I hate everything that merely instructs me without augmenting or directly invigorating my activity.

Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing; a confusion of the real with the ideal never goes unpunished.

Men's prejudices rest upon their character for the time being and cannot be overcome, as being part and parcel of themselves. Neither evidence nor common sense nor reason has the slightest influence upon them.

It is not enough to have knowledge; one must apply it. It is not enough to have wishes; one must also accomplish it.

The best fortune that can fall to a man is that which corrects his defects and makes up for his failings.

In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm... in the real world all rests on perseverance.

The true poet is called to take in the splendor of the world and for that reason will always be inclined to praise rather than tofind fault.