Taste is only to be educated by contemplation, not of the tolerably good but of the truly excellent. I therefore show you only the best works; and when you are grounded in these, you will have a standard for the rest, which you will know how to value, without overrating them.

If you miss the first buttonhole, you will not succeed in buttoning up your coat.

A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.

Human life runs its course in the metamorphosis between receiving and giving.

There is no remedy but love for the great superiority of others

Even the lowliest, provided he is whole, can be happy, and in his own . way, perfect.

Man supposes that he directs his life and governs his actions, when his existence is irretrievably under the control of destiny