He who has no pleasure in looking up, is not fit so much as to look down.

Distinction is the consequence, never the object of a great mind.

He who has no pleasure in looking up, is not fit so much as to look down.

The painter who is content with the praise of the world for what does not satisfy himself, is not an artist, but an artisan; for though his reward be only praise, his pay is that of a mechanic.

No man knows himself as an original.

Nothing gets you behind faster than trying to keep up with people who are already there.

Fame has no necessary conjunction with praise; it may exist without the breath of a word: it is a recognition of excellence which must be felt, but need not be spoken. Even the envious must feel it: feel it, and hate in silence.