Don't be afraid to say what you are not afraid to think

It is easier to write an indifferent poem than to understand a good one.

Now there cannot be first principles for men, unless the Divinity has revealed them; all the rest--beginning, middle, and end--isnothing but dreams and smoke.

I have a vocabulary all my own. I "pass the time" when it is wet and disagreeable. When it is fine I do not wish to pass it; I ruminate it and hold on to it. We should hasten over the bad, and settle upon the good.

Men ... are not agreed about any one thing, not even that heaven is over our heads.

True freedom is to have power over oneself for everything.

Why dost thou complain of this world? It detains thee not; thy own cowardice is the cause, if thou livest in pain.