It is continued temperance which sustains the body for the longest period of time, and which most surely preserves it free from sickness.
Wilhelm von HumboldtNo matter how good or great a man may be, there is yet a better and a greater man within him.
Wilhelm von HumboldtMan is more disposed to domination than freedom; and a structure of dominion not only gladdens the eye of the master who rears and protects it, but even its servants are uplifted by the thought that they are members of a whole, which rises high above the life and strength of single generations.
Wilhelm von HumboldtIt is a characteristic of old age to find the progress of time accelerated. The less one accomplishes in a given time, the shorter does the retrospect appear.
Wilhelm von HumboldtThe more a man acts on his own, the more he develops himself. In large associations he is too prone to become merely an instrument.
Wilhelm von HumboldtPrayer is intended to increase the devotion of the individual, but if the individual himself prays he requires no formula; he pours himself forth much more naturally in self-chosen and connected thoughts before God, and scarcely requires words at all. Real inward devotion knows no prayer but that arising from the depths of its own feelings.
Wilhelm von Humboldt