I cannot love evergreens - they are the misanthropes of nature. To them the spring brings no promise, the autumn no decline; they are cut off from the sweetest of all ties with their kind - sympathy. ... I will have no evergreens in my garden; when the inevitable winter comes, every beloved plant and favorite tree shall drop together - no solitary fir left to triumph over the companionship of decay.

he who seeks pleasure with reference to himself, not others, will ever find that pleasure is only another name for discontent.

Alas! we give our own coloring to the actions of others.

The stars are so far, far away!

We need to suffer, that we may learn to pity.

Assuredly, meeting after absence, is one of - ah, no! - it is life's most delicious feeling.

An apt quotation is like a lamp which flings its light over the whole sentence.