Only the great masters of style ever succeed in being obscure.

Other people are quite dreadful. The only possible society is oneself.

I like to do all the talking myself. It saves time, and prevents arguments.

The worst of it is that I am perpetually being punished for nothing; this governor loves to punish, and he punishes by taking my books away from me. It's perfectly awful to let the mind grind itself away between the upper and nether millstones of regret and remorse without respite; with books my life would be livable -- any life.

Quotation is a serviceable substitute for wit.

The public has always, and in every age, been badly brought up. They are continually asking Art to be popular, to please their want of taste, to flatter their absurd vanity, to tell them what they have been told before, to show them what they ought to be tired of seeing, to amuse them when they feel heavy after eating too much, and to distract their thoughts when they are wearied of their own stupidity.

Don't be afraid. There are exquisite things in store for you. This is merely the beginning.