If a given scientist had not made a given discovery, someone else would have done so a little later. Johann Mendel dies unknown after having discovered the laws of heredity: thirty-five years later, three men rediscover them. But the book that is not written will never be written. The premature death of a great scientist delays humanity; that of a great writer deprives it.

There are things that don't deserve to be said briefly.

There are big and little truths, but all belong to the same race.

Take heed of critics even when they are not fair; resist them even when they are.

Certain brief sentences are peerless in their ability to give one the feeling that nothing remains to be said.

We bestow on others praise in which we do not believe, on condition that in return they bestow upon us praise in which we do.

Renown? I've already got more of it than those I respect, and will never have as much as those for whom I feel contempt.