Every man, however good he may be, has a yet better man dwelling in him, which is properly himself, but to whom nevertheless he is often unfaithful. It is to this interior and less mutable being that we should attach ourselves, not to be changeable, every-day man.

It is usually more important how a man meets his fate than what it is.

Fancy brings us as many vain hopes as idle fears.

Possession, it is true, crowns exertion with rest; but it is only in the illusions of fancy that it has power to charm us.

The sorrow which calls for help and comfort is not the greatest, nor does it come from the depths of the heart.

Besides the pleasure derived from acquired knowledge, there lurks in the mind of man, and tinged with a shade of sadness, an unsatisfactory longing for something beyond the present, a striving towards regions yet unknown and unopened.

To judge a man means nothing more than to ask: What content does he give to the form of humanity? What concept should we have of humanity if he were its only representative?