he who should inspire and lead his race must be defended from travelling with the souls of other men, from living, breathing, reading, and writing in the daily, time-worn yoke of their opinions.

The reason why men do not obey us, is because they see the mud at the bottom of our eye.

A man must consider what a rich realm he abdicates when he becomes a conformist.

[A]s if life were a thunder-storm wherein you can see by a flash the horizon, and then cannot see your hand.

Let us learn the meaning of economy. Economy is a high human office,--a sacrament when its aim is grand, when it is the prudence of simple tastes, when it is practised for freedom or for love or devotion.

The whole secret of the teacher's force lies in the conviction that men are convertible.

We do not yet trust the unknown power of thoughts.