Suffering predisposes the mind to devoutness; and most young girls, prompted by instinctive tenderness, lean towards mysticism, the obscurer side of religion.

Despotism accomplishes great things illegally; liberty doesn't even go to the trouble of accomplishing small things legally.

Mud, raised by hurricanes, wells up in the noblest and purest of hearts.

Love is the poetry of the senses.

Rich men are resolved to be astonished at nothing. When they see a masterpiece, they must needs at one glance recognize some flaw to dispense them from admiration, a vulgar emotion.

Danger arouses interest. Where death is involved, the vilest criminal invariably stirs a little compassion.

Grief ennobles the commonest people because it has its own essential grandeur. To shine with the luster of grief, a person need only be sincere.