A variety of nothing is superior to a monotony of something.

What a father says to his children is not heard by the world, but it will be heard by posterity.

For sleep, riches and health to be truly enjoyed and gratefully appreciated, they must be interrupted so the person can see that not having them is not as good as having them.

Men, like bullets, go farthest when they are smoothest.

It is not the end of joy that makes old age so sad, but the end of hope.

It has been jestingly said that the works of John Paul Richter are almost unintelligible to any but the Germans, and even to some of them. A worthy German, just before Richter's death, edited a complete edition of his works, in which one particular passage fairly puzzled him. Determined to have it explained at the source, he went to John Paul himself. The author's reply was very characteristic: "My good friend, when I wrote that passage, God and I knew what it meant; it is possible that God knows it still; but as for me, I have totally forgotten."

Memory, wit, fancy, acuteness, cannot grow young again in old age, but the heart can.