Tombs decked by the arts can scarcely represent death as a formidable enemy; we do not, indeed, like the ancients, carve sports and dances in the sarcophagus, but thought is diverted from the bier by works that tell of immortality, even from the altar of death.

The success of any man with any woman is apt to displease even his best friends.

Mystery such as is given of God is beyond the power of human penetration, yet not in opposition to it.

However old a conjugal union, it still garners some sweetness. Winter has some cloudless days, and under the snow a few flowers still bloom.

Intellect does not attain its full force unless it attacks power.

The memories which come to us through music are not accompanied by any regrets; for a moment music gives us back the pleasures it retraces, and we feel them again rather than recollect them.

Anything that happens gradually is always irrevocable.