The flowers of life are but visionary. How many pass away and leave no trace behind! How few yield any fruit,--and the fruit itself, how rarely does it ripen! And yet there are flowers enough; and is it not strange, my friend, that we should suffer the little that does really ripen to rot, decay, and perish unenjoyed?

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

All things are only transitory.

Oblivion is full of people who allow the opinions of others to overrule their belief in themselves.

I have so much in me, and the feeling for her absorbs it all; I have so much, and without her it all comes to nothing.

In all times it is only individuals that have advanced science, not the age.

The modern age has a false sense of superiority, because of the great mass of data at its disposal. But the valid criterion of distinction is rather the extent to which man knows how to form and master the material at his command.