Society never advances. It recedes as fast on one side as it gains on the other. Society acquires new arts, and loses old instincts.

A man finds room in the few square inches of the face for the traits of all his ancestors; for the expression of all his history, and his wants.

A man is the prisoner of his power. A topical memory makes him an almanac; a talent for debate, disputant; skill to get money makes him a miser, that is, a beggar. Culture reduces these inflammations by invoking the aid of other powers against the dominant talent, and by appealing to the rank of powers. It watches success.

Nature is the symbol of Spirit.

When I first open my eyes upon the morning meadows and look out upon the beautiful world, I thank God I am alive.

If the king is in the palace, nobody looks at the walls. It is when he is gone, and the house is filled with grooms and gazers, that we turn from the people, to find relief in the majestic men that are suggested by the pictures and the architecture.

The counting-room maxims liberally expounded are laws of the Universe. The merchant's economy is a coarse symbol of the soul's economy. It is, to spend for power, and not for pleasure.