I laugh at my heart, and do its will

All ages have said and repeated that one should strive to know one's self. This is a strange demand which no one up to now has measured up to and, strictly considered, no one should. With all their study and effort, people are directed to what is outside, to the world about them, and they are kept busy coming to know this and to master it to the extent that their purposes require. . . . How can you come to know yourself? Never by thinking, always by doing. Try to do your duty, and you'll know right away what you amount to. And what is your duty? Whatever the day calls for.

The most congenial social occasions are those ruled by cheerful deference of each for all.

Gifts come from above in their own peculiar forms.

If everyone sweeps before his own front door, then the street is clean.

A great deal may be done by severity, more by love, but most by clear discernment and impartial justice.

It is better to be deceived by one's friends than to deceive them.