Fate is unpenetrated causes.

Egotism is a kind of buckram that gives momentary strength and concentration to men, and seems to be much used in Nature for fabrics in which local and spasmodic energy is required.

The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time. A fever, a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a loss of wealth, a loss of friends, seems at the moment unpaid loss, and unpayable. But the sure years reveal the deep remedial force that underlies all facts.

The secret of the illusoriness is in the necessity of a succession of moods or objects. Gladly we would anchor, but the anchorageis quicksand.

Who hears me, who understands me, becomes mine, a possession for all time.

Every materialist will be an idealist; but an idealist can never go backward to be a materialist.

A great man scarcely knows how he dines, how he dresses; but without railing or precision, his living is natural and poetic.