One should write not unskillfully in the running hand, be able to sing in a pleasing voice and keep good time to music; and, lastly, a man should not refuse a little wine when it is pressed upon him.

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.

The true criminal must be defined as a man who commits a crime though he is as decently fed and clothed as others.

Leave undone whatever you hesitate to do.

To sit alone in the lamplight with a book spread out before you, and hold intimate converse with men of unseen generations - such is a pleasure beyond compare.

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