How happy he who can still hope to lift himself from this sea of error! What we know not, that we are anxious to possess, and cannot use what we know.

Superstition is the poesy of practical life; hence, a poet is none the worse for being superstitious.

A rainbow which lasts for a quarter of an hour is looked at no longer.

Nature is, after all, the only book that offers important content on every page.

I am fully convinced that the soul is indestructible, and its activity will continue through eternity.

We blame equally him who is too proud to put a proper value on his own merit and him who prizes too highly his spurious worth.

The misery that oppresses you lies not in your profession but in yourself! What man in the world would not find his situation intolerable if he chooses a craft, an art, indeed any form of life, without experiencing an inner calling? Whoever is born with a talent, or to a talent, must surely find in that the most pleasing of occupations! Everything on this earth has its difficult sides! Only some inner drive - pleasure, love - can help us overcome obstacles, prepare a path, and lift as out of the narrow circle in which others tread out their anguished, miserable existences!