I cherished hope, it is true, but it vanished when my person reflected . . .

I see by your eagerness, and the wonder and hope which your eyes express, my friend, that you expect to be in formed of the secret with which I am acquainted. That cannot be.

It is hardly surprising that women concentrate on the way they look instead of what is in their minds since not much has been put in their minds to begin with.

With how many things are we on the brink of becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries.

I, a miserable wretch, haunted by a curse that shut up every avenue to enjoyment.

Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth. Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments; yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures.

The world to me was a secret, which I desired to discover; to her it was a vacancy, which she sought to people with imaginations of her own.