The Great Man's sincerity is of the kind he cannot speak of, is not conscious of: nay, I suppose, he is conscious rather of insincerity; for what man can walk accurately by the law of truth for one day? No, the Great Man does not boast himself sincere, far from that; perhaps does not ask himself if he is so: I would say rather, his sincerity does not depend on himself; he cannot help being sincere!
Thomas CarlyleMan's unhappiness, as I construe, comes of his greatness; it is because there is an Infinite in him, which with all his cunning he cannot quite bury under the Finite.
Thomas CarlyleNo country can find eternal peace and comfort where the vote of Judas Iscariot is as good as the vote of the Saviour of mankind.
Thomas CarlyleThe lightning spark of thought generated in the solitary mind awakens its likeness in another mind.
Thomas CarlyleFriend, hast thou considered the "rugged, all-nourishing earth," as Sophocles well names her; how she feeds the sparrow on the housetop, much more her darling man?
Thomas Carlyle