In the first place, [his eyes] never laughed when he laughed. Have you ever noticed this peculiarity some people have? It is either the sign of an evil nature or of a profound and lasting sorrow.

Afraid of decision, I buried my finer feelings in the depths of my heart and they died there.

If only people thought a little more about it, they would see that life is not worrying about so much.

There are two men in me--one lives in the full sense of the word, the other reasons and passes judgment on the first. The first will perhaps take leave of you and the world forever in an hour now; and the second . . . the second?

For what did the creator prepare me,Why did he so terribly contradictThe hopes of my youth?

In simple hearts the feeling for the beauty and grandeur of nature is a hundred-fold stronger and more vivid than in us, ecstatic composers of narratives in words and on paper.

Many a calm river begins as a turbulent waterfall, yet none hurtles and foams all the way to the sea.