There are souls which fall from heaven like flowers, but ere they bloom are crushed under the foul tread of some brutal hoof.

As a man grows older it is harder and harder to frighten him.

Has it never occurred to us, when surrounded by sorrows, that they may be sent to us only for our instruction, as we darken the eyes of birds when we wish them to sing?

We learn our virtues from our friends who love us; our faults from the enemy who hates us. We cannot easily discover our real character from a friend. He is a mirror, on which the warmth of our breath impedes the clearness of the reflection.

There are souls in this world which have the gift of finding joy everywhere and of leaving it behind them when they go.

The words that a father speaks to his children in the privacy of home are not heard by the world, but, as in whispering galleries, they are clearly heard at the end, and by posterity.

You prove your worth with your actions, not with your mouth.