Writing history is a method of getting rid of the past.

Don't judge anyone harshly until you yourself have been through his experiences

If one doesn't know one's own country, one doesn't have standards for foreign countries.

One cannot develop taste from what is of average quality but only from the very best.

As for solitude, I cannot understand how certain people seek to lay claim to intellectual stature, nobility of soul and strength of character, yet have not the slightest feeling for seclusion; for solitude, I maintain, when joined with a quiet contemplation of nature, a serene and conscious faith in creation and the Creator, and a few vexations from outside is the only school for a mind of lofty endowment.

Don't give us your doubts, gives us your certainties, for we have doubts enough of our own.

The affairs of the world are no more than so much trickery, and a man who toils for money or honour or whatever else in deference to the wishes of others, rather than because his own desire or needs lead him to do so, will always be a fool.