As long as any man exists, there is some need of him.

The soul is the perceiver and revealer of truth. We know truth when we see it, let skeptic and scoffer say what they choose. Foolish people ask you, when you have spoken what they do not wish to hear, 'How do you know it is truth, and not an error of your own?' We know truth when we see it, from opinion, as we know when we are awake that we are awake.

I see that sensible men and conscientious men all over the world were of one religion of well-doing and daring.

Beware of too much good staying in your hand. It will fast corrupt and worm worms. Pay it away quickly in some sort.

As to methods, there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods.

The hues of the opal, the light of the diamond, are not to be seen if the eye is too near.

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness.