Unlimited activity, of whatever kind, must end in bankruptcy.

I am amazed to see how deliberately I have entangled myself step by step. To have seen my position so clearly, and yet to have acted so like a child!

Only the soul that loves is happy

I will be lord over myself.

Painting predicates what man wants to see, and what man ought to see, not what he ordinarily sees.

Men are so inclined to content themselves with what is commonest; the spirit and the senses so easily grow dead to the impressions of the beautiful and perfect, that every one should study, by all methods, to nourish in his mind the faculty of feeling these things. ...For this reason, one ought every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words.

The hero draws inspiration from the virtue of his ancestors.