Silence is the universal refuge, the sequel to all dull discourses and all foolish acts, a balm to our every chagrin, as welcome after satiety as after disappointment; that background which the painter may not daub, be he master or bungler, and which, however awkward a figure we may have made in the foreground, remains ever our inviolable asylum, where no indignity can assail, no personality can disturb us.

To the sick the doctors wisely recommend a change of air and scenery.

Every man is tasked to make his life, even in its details, worthy of the contemplation of his most elevated and critical hour.

None can lead this life who are not almost amphibious.

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.

Shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous. If men would steadily observe realities only, and not allow themselves to be deluded, life ... would be like a fairy tale and the Arabian Nights' Entertainments.

The Indian's intercourse with Nature is at least such as admits of the greatest independence of each.