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.

Some books leave us free and some books make us free.

All writing is by the grace of God. People do not deserve to have good writing, they are so pleased with bad. In these sentences that you show me, I can find no beauty, for I see death in every clause and every word. There is a fossil or a mummy character which pervades this book. The best sepulchers, the vastest catacombs, Thebes and Cairo, Pyramids, are sepulchers to me. I like gardens and nurseries. Give me initiative, spermatic, prophesying, man-making words.

Men's actions are too strong for them. Show me a man who has acted, and who has not been the victim and slave of his action.

Finish each day before you begin the next, and interpose a solid wall of sleep between the two. This you cannot do without temperance.

Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.

Love is the essence of God.