Parents forgive their children least readily for the faults they themselves instilled in them.

Nothing is less promising than precocity. A young thistle is more like a future tree than is a young oak.

One can acquire some virtues by feigning them for a long time.

Not reading a beautiful book again because you've already read it, that is, as if you were not visiting a dear friend again because you know him already.

Never strive, O artist, to create what you are not irresistibly impelled to create!

Passion is always suffering, even when gratified.

Only the thinking man lives his life, the thoughtless man's life passes him by.