Every friend whom not thy fantastic will but the great and tender heart in thee craveth, shall lock thee in his embrace. And this because the heart in thee is the heart of all; not a valve, not a wall, not an intersection is there anywhere in nature, but one blood rolls uninterruptedly in endless circulation through all men, as the water of the globe is all one sea, and, truly seen, its tide is one.

To a dull mind all of nature is leaden. To the illumined mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light.

There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat.

Only to youth will spring be spring.

My life is for itself and not for a spectacle.

In Haydn's oratorios, the notes present to the imagination not only motions, as, of the snake, the stag, and the elephant, but colors also; as the green grass.

Be not the slave of your own past.