Only by joy and sorrow does a person know anything about themselves and their destiny. They learn what to do and what to avoid.

What men usually say of misfortunes, that they never come alone, may with equal truth be said of good fortune; nay, of other circumstances which gather round us in a harmonious way, whether it arise from a kind of fatality, or that man has the power of attracting to himself things that are mutually related.

There is no permanence in doubt; it incites the mind to closer inquiry and experiment, from which, if rightly managed, certainty proceeds, and in this alone can man find thorough satisfaction.

We are pantheists as natural scientists, polytheists as poets, and monotheists as moral beings.

Over all the mountain tops is peace. In all treetops you perceive scarcely a breath. The little birds in the forest are silent. Wait then; soon, you too, will have peace.

I can promise to be sincere, but I cannot promise to be impartial.

One glance, one word from you gives more pleasure than all the wisdom of this world.