Paternity is based anyhow only upon conviction: I am convinced, therefore, I am the father.

I do not now begin, - I still adore Her whom I early cherish'd in my breast; Then once again with prudence dispossess'd, And to whose heart I'm driven back once more. The love of Petrarch, that all-glorious love, Was unrequited, and, alas, full sad.

Religion is not in want of art; it rests on its own majesty.

nothing puts me so completely out of patience as the utterance of a wretched commonplace when I am talking from my inmost heart.

Wine rejoices the heart of man and joy is the mother of all virtues.

Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.

Talent is nurtured in solitude; character is formed in the stormy billows of the world.