No one is able to enjoy such feast than the one who throws a party in his own mind.

Never repeat a rumor before you have verified it. And if it is true, hold your tongue all the more.

It is not a good omen to meet a lot of cats when one sets out on a journey, so the Lieutenant spat three times for each cat, as his mother had taught him to do.

For what is man's soul but a flame? It flickers in and around the body of a man as does the flame around the rough log.

It is often the case with the silent children about us, that they cherish a dream which they dare not talk about.

There is so much one would rather not believe until one has seen for oneself whether it is true.

Have you ever seen a child sitting on its mother’s knee listening to fairy stories? As long as the child is told of cruel giants and of the terrible suffering of beautiful princesses, it holds its head up and its eyes open; but if the mother begins to speak of happiness and sunshine, the little one closes its eyes and falls asleep with its head against her breast. . . . I am a child like that, too. Others may like stories of flowers and sunshine; but I choose the dark nights and sad destinies.