The poet is he who can write some pure mythology today without the aid of posterity.

If you see a man approaching you with the obvious intent of doing you good, you should run for your life.

I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.

All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable.

I will come to you, my friend, when I no longer need you. Then you will find a palace, not an almshouse.

Why should not our whole life and its scenery be actually thus fair and distinct? All our lives want a suitable background. They should at least, like the life of the anchorite, be as impressive to behold as objects in a desert, a broken shaft or crumbling mound against a limitless horizon.

I hate the present modes of living and getting a living. Farming and shopkeeping and working at a trade or profession are all odious to me. I should relish getting my living in a simple, primitive fashion.