Next to victory, there is nothing so sweet as defeat, if only the right adversary overcomes you.

The bibliophile is the master of his books, the bibliomaniac their slave.

People may excite in themselves a glow of compassion, not by toasting their feet at the fire, and saying: "Lord, teach me compassion," but by going and seeking an object that requires compassion.

There is a temperate zone in the mind, between luxurious indolence and exacting work; and it is to this region, just between laziness and labor, that summer reading belongs.

Whatever is almost true is quite false, and among the most dangerous of errors, because being so near truth, it is more likely to lead astray.

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.

Love is ownership. We own whom we love. The universe is God's because He loves.