Wood burns because it has the proper stuff for that purpose in it; and a man becomes renowned because he has the necessary stuff in him. Renown is not to be sought, and all pursuit of it is vain. A person may, indeed, by skillful conduct and various artificial means, make a sort of name for himself; but if the inner jewel is wanting, all is vanity, and will not last a day.

To a valet no man is a hero.

It is working within limits that the craftsman reveals himself.

The sickness of the heart is most easily got rid of by complaining and soothing confidence.

But the valid issue is the extent to which man knows how to form and master the material at his command.

I know nothing more mocking than a devil that despairs.

No limit, no definition, may restrict the range or depth of the human spirit's passage into its own secrets or the world's.