Leave undone whatever you hesitate to do.

Blossoms are scattered by the wind and the wind cares nothing but the blossoms of the heart no wind can touch.

If life were eternal, all interest and anticipation would vanish. It is uncertainty which lends it fascination.

Are we to look at cherry blossoms only in full bloom, the moon only when it is cloudless? To long for the moon while looking on the rain, to lower the blinds and be unaware of the passing of the spring - these are even more deeply moving. Branches about to blossom or gardens strewn with flowers are worthier of our admiration.

There is nothing finer than to be alone with nothing to distract you.

It is a most wonderful comfort to sit alone beneath a lamp, book spread before you, and commune with someone from the past whom you have never met.

Even members of the nobility, let alone persons of no consequence, would do well not to have children.