Everywhere the fatal spirit of imitation, of reference to European standards, penetrates and threatens to blight whatever of original growth might adorn the soil.

Essays, entitled critical, are epistles addressed to the public, through which the mind of the recluse relieves itself of its impressions.

You see how wide the gulf that separates me from the Christian church.

Those have not lived who have not seen Rome.

All around us lies what we neither understand nor use. Our capacities, our instincts for this our present sphere are but half developed. Let us confine ourselves to that till the lesson be learned; let us be completely natural; before we trouble ourselves with the supernatural. I never see any of these things but I long to get away and lie under a green tree and let the wind blow on me. There is marvel and charm enough in that for me.

Whatever the soul knows how to seek, it cannot fail to obtain.

As to marriage, I think the intercourse of heart and mind may be fully enjoyed without entering into this partnership of daily life.