It is far better to be silent than merely to increase the quantity of bad books.

Hope should no more be a virtue than fear; we fear and we hope, according to what is promised or threatened us.

The necessity of saying something, the embarrassment produced by the consciousness of having nothing to say, and the desire to exhibit ability, are three things sufficient to render even a great man ridiculous.

I acknowledge that four thousand volumes of metaphysics will not teach us what our soul is.

Language is a very difficult thing to put into words.

It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong.

By appreciation, we make excellence in others our own property.