Each of us is in fact what he is almost exclusively by virtue of his imitative-ness.

a man does not cry because he is sad, he is sad because he cries

All natural goods perish. Riches take wings; fame is a breath; love is a cheat; youth and health and pleasure vanish.

From a pragmatic point of view, the difference between living against a background of foreigness (an indifferent Universe) and one of intimacy (a benevolent Universe) means the difference between a general habit of wariness and one of trust.

Every individual existence goes out in a lonely spasm of helpless agony.

The total mental efficiency of a man is the resultant of the working together of all his faculties. He is too complex a being for any one of them to have the casting vote. If any one of them do have the casting vote, it is more likely to be the strength of his desire and passion, the strength of the interest he takes in what is proposed. Concentration, memory, reasoning power, inventiveness, excellence of the senses, all are subsidiary to this.

The highest flights of charity, devotion, trust, patience, bravery to which the wings of human nature have spread themselves, have been flown for religious ideals.