Man is not made for society, but society is made for man. No institution can be good which does not tend to improve the individual.

It was not meant that the soul should cultivate the earth, but that the earth should educate and maintain the soul.

It seems that it is madder never to abandon one's self than often to be infatuated; better to be wounded, a captive and a slave, than always to walk in armor.

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.

Amid all your duties, keep some hours to yourself.

What a difference it makes to come home to a child!