The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops - no, but the kind of man the country turns out.

If government knew how, I should like to see it check, not multiply, the population. When it reaches its true law of action, every man that is born will be hailed as essential.

The wise man in the storm prays God not for safety from danger but for deliverance from fear. It is the storm within which endangers him[,] not the storm without.

The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible.

There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence.

Every man I meet is in some way my superior...

Genius is its own end.