The wheels and springs of man are all set to the hypothesis of the permanence of nature. We are not built like a ship to be tossed, but like a house to stand.

Alas for the unhappy man that is called to stand in the pulpit, and not give the bread of life.

He is great who is what he is from nature, and who never reminds us of others.

Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts. The only gift is a portion of thyself. Thou must bleed for me. Therefore the poet brings his poem; the shepherd, his lamb; the farmer, corn; the miner, a stone; the painter, his picture; the girl, a handkerchief of her own sewing.

You have first an instinct, then an opinion, then a knowledge, as the plant has root, bud, and fruit.

When all shoot at one mark, the gods join in the combat.

All history is a record of the power of minorities, and of minorities of one.