Man errs, till he has ceased to strive.

When we see the many grave-stones which have fallen in, which have been defaced by the footsteps of the congregation, which lie buried under the ruins of the churches, that have themselves crumbled together over them; we may fancy the life after death to be as a second life, into which man enters in the figure, or the picture or the inscription, and lives longer there than when he was really alive. But this figure also, this second existence, dies out too, sooner or later. Time will not allow himself to be cheated of his rights with the monuments of men or with themselves.

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

Two souls dwell, alas! in my breast.

The sickness of the heart is most easily got rid of by complaining and soothing confidence.

The beginning of faith is the beginning of fruitfulness; but the beginning of unbelief, however glittering, is empty.

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.