Be not dazzled by beauty, but look for those inward qualities which are lasting.

Human affairs are like a chess-game: only those who do not take it seriously can be called good players. Life is like an earthen pot: only when it is shattered, does it manifest its emptiness.

Do what you should, not what you may.

Most people fancy themselves innocent of those crimes of which they cannot be convicted.

In my own time there have been inventions of this sort, transparent windows tubes for diffusing warmth equally through all parts of a building short-hand, which has been carried to such a perfection that a writer can keep pace with the most rapid speaker. But the inventing of such things is drudgery for the lowest slaves; philosophy lies deeper. It is not her office to teach men how to use their hands. The object of her lessons is to form the soul.

There is no evil without its compensation.

Do the best you can . . . enjoy the present . . . rest satisfied with what you have.