But only he who, himself enlightened, is not afraid of shadows.

Nature does nothing in vain, and in the use of means to her goals she is not prodigal.

Of all the arts poetry (which owes its origin almost entirely to genius and will least be guided by precept or example) maintains the first rank.

Morality is not properly the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness.

The nice thing about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you're doing, someone else does.

Criticism alone can sever the root of materialism, fatalism, atheism, free-thinking, fanaticism, and superstition, which can be injurious universally; as well as of idealism and skepticism, which are dangerous chiefly to the Schools, and hardly allow of being handed on to the public.

A man who has tasted with profound enjoyment the pleasure of agreeable society will eat with a greater appetite than he who rode horseback for two hours. An amusing lecture is as useful for health as the exercise of the body.