So all that is said of the wise man by Stoic or Oriental or modern essayist, describes to each reader his own idea, describes his unattained but attainable self.

These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world.

If men would avoid that general language and general manner in which they strive to hide all that is peculiar, and would say only what was uppermost in their own minds, after their own individual manner, every man would be interesting.

Though we travel the world over to find beauty, we must carry it with us or we find it not . . . The difference between landscape and landscape is small, but there is a great difference in beholders.

The finest people marry the two sexes in their own person.

The have a good friend is one of the greatest delights of life.

Eloquence must be grounded on the plainest narrative.