No man is so exquisitely honest or upright in living, but that ten times in his life he might not lawfully be hanged.

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 do not know whether I would not like much better to have produced one perfectly formed child by intercourse with the muses than by intercourse with my wife.

What kind of truth is it which has these mountains as its boundary and is a lie beyond them?

He who would teach men to die would teach them to live.

He who lives not to others, lives little to himself.

While our pulse beats and we feel emotion, let us put off the business. Things will truly seem different to us when we have quieted and cooled down. It is passion that is in command at first, it is passion that speaks, it is not we ourselves.