Genius is saying what is in your heart, because it's in everyone's heart.

We legislate against forestalling and monopoly; we would have a common granary for the poor; but the selfishness which hoards thecorn for high prices, is the preventative of famine; and the law of self-preservation is surer policy than any legislation can be.

Painting seems to be to the eye what dancing is to the limbs. When that has educated the frame to self-possession, to nimbleness,to grace, the steps of the dancing-master are better forgotten; so painting teaches me the splendor of color and the expression of form, and as I see many pictures and higher genius in the art, I see the boundless opulence of the pencil, the indifferency in which the artist stands free to choose out of the possible forms.

The sign and credentials of the poet are that he announces that which no man foretold

The secret of success lies never in the amount of money, but in the relation of income to outgo.

We forget ourselves and our destinies in health, and the chief use of temporary sickness is to remind us of these concerns.

Every man has his own courage, and is betrayed because he seeks in himself the courage of other persons.