There has not been any great talent without an element of madness. -Nullum magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae fuit

It is essential to make oneself used to putting up with a little. Even the wealthy and the well provided are continually met and frustrated by difficult times and situations. It is in no man's power to have whatever he wants; but he has it in his power not to wish for what he hasn't got, and cheerfully make the most of the things that do come his way.

It's the admirer and the watcher who provoke us to all the inanities we commit.

Hardly a man will you find who could live with his door open.

We are born to lose and to perish, to hope and to fear, to vex ourselves and others; and there is no antidote against a common calamity but virtue; for the foundation of true joy is in the conscience.

On entering a temple we assume all signs of reverence. How much more reverent then should we be before the heavenly bodies, the stars, the very nature of God!

There is the need for someone against which our characters can measure themselves. Without a ruler, you won't make the crooked straight.