The world is all outside, it has no inside.

The only gift is a portion of thyself . . . the poet brings his poem; the shepherd his lamb. . . .

Moral qualities rule the world, but at short distances the senses are despotic.

Some of the sweetest hours in life, in retrospect will be found to have been spent with books.

Sleep takes off the costume of circumstance, arms us with terrible freedom, so that every will rushes to deed. A skillful man reads his dreams for his self-knowledge; yet not the details, but the quality. What part does he play in them - a cheerful, manly part, or a poor, drivelling part? However monstrous and grotesque their apparitions, they have a substantial truth.

All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man has taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first.

Sanity is very rare; every man almost and every woman has a dash of madness.