It is only necessary to grow old to become more charitable and even indulgent. I see no fault committed by others that I have not committed myself.

Truth has to be repeated constantly, because Error also is being preached all the time, and not just by a few, but by the multitude. In the Press and Encyclopaedias, in Schools and Universities, everywhere Error holds sway, feeling happy and comfortable in the knowledge of having Majority on its side.

Art is long, life short, judgment difficult, opportunity transient. To act is easy, to think is hard; to act according to our thought is troublesome. Every beginning is cheerful: the threshold is the place of expectation.

Wealth and speed are what the world admires, what each pursues. Railways, express mails, steamships and every possible facility for communications are the achievement in which the civilized world view and revels, only to languish in mediocrity by that very fact. Indeed, the effect of this diffusion is to spread the culture of the mediocre.

It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. But I am sure that figures show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.

What is the freedom of the most free? To do what is right!

Self-love exaggerates our faults as well as our virtues.