There comes a period of the imagination to each--a later youth--the power of beauty, the power of looks, of poetry.

I see not any road of perfect peace which a man can walk but after the counsel of his own bosom.

There are three wants which never can be satisfied: that of the rich, who wants something more; that of the sick, who wants something different; and that of the traveler, who says anywhere but here.

Skepticism? Yes, but a saint is a skeptic once in twenty-four hours.

The secret of culture is to learn, that a few great points steadily reappear, alike in the poverty of the obscurest farm, and in the miscellany of metropolitan life, and that these few are alone to be regarded,--the escape from all false ties; courage to be what we are; and love what is simple and beautiful; independence and cheerful relation, these are the essentials,--these, and the wish to serve,--to add somewhat to the well-being of men.

The height, the deity of man is to be self-sustained, to need no gift, no foreign force. Society is good when it does not violate me, but best when it is likest to solitude.

The riddle of the age has for each a private solution.