There are questions so indiscreet, that they deserve neither truth nor falsehood in reply.

I like people to be saints; but I want them to be first and superlatively honest men.

Love enters the heart unawares: takes precedence of all the emotions--or, at least, will be second to none--and even reflection becomes its accomplice. While it lives, it renders blind; and when it has struck its roots deep only itself can shake them. It reminds one of hospitality as practiced among the ancients. The stranger was received upon the threshold of the half-open door, and introduced into the sanctuary reserved for the Penates. Not until every attention had been lavished upon him did the host ask his name; and the question was sometimes deferred till the very moment of departure.

To have ideas is to gather flowers; to think is to weave them into garlands.

The root of sanctity is sanity. A man must be healthy before he can be holy. We bathe first, and then perfume.

To reveal imprudently the spot where we are most sensitive and vulnerable is to invite a blow. The demigod Achilles admitted no one to his confidence.

True poets, like great artists, have scarcely any childhood, and no old age.