To the man of thought almost nothing is really ridiculous.

The rose is wont with pride to swell, and ever seeks to rise.

The world only goes forward because of those who oppose it.

You acquire a language most readily in the country where it is spoken; you study mineralogy best among miners; and so with everything else.

Truth is contrary to our nature, not so error, and this for a very simple reason: truth demands that we should recognize ourselves as limited, error flatters us that, in one way or another, we are unlimited.

There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at.

Taste is only to be educated by contemplation, not of the tolerably good but of the truly excellent.