The goitre of egotism is so frequent among notable persons, that we must infer some strong necessity in nature which it subserves;such as we see in the sexual attraction.

Honor and fortune exist for him who always recognizes the neighborhood of the great, always feels himself in the presence of high causes.

The virtue in most request is conformity.

Let there be worse cotton and better men.

Real men don't conform to the beliefs of others, even when society has concluded on what is good and true, but maintain the integrity of their own mind.

A great part of courage is the courage of having done the thing before.

An imaginative book renders us much more service at first, by stimulating us through its tropes, than afterward, when we arrive atthe precise sense of the author. I think nothing is of any value in books, excepting the transcendental and extraordinary.