What would be ugly in a garden constitutes beauty in a mountain.

When a man understands the art of seeing, he can trace the spirit of an age and the features of a king even in the knocker on a door.

One cannot be a good historian of the outward, visible world without giving some thought to the hidden, private life of ordinary people; and on the other hand one cannot be a good historian of this inner life without taking into account outward events where these are relevant.

And then, strange to say, the first symptom of true love in a young man is timidity; in a girl, it is boldness.

In saying no to progress, it is not the future which they condemn, but themselves. They give themselves a melancholy disease; they inoculate themselves with the past. There is but one way of refusing tomorrow, that is to die.

Son, brother, father, lover, friend. There is room in the heart for all the affections, as there is room in heaven for all the stars.

The delight we inspire in others has this enchanting peculiarity that, far from being diminished like every other reflection, it returns to us more radiant than ever.