"Mediocrity has no greater consolation than in the thought that genius is not immortal"

"Anecdotes and maxims are rich treasures to the man of the world, for he knows how to introduce the former at fit place in conversation."

"The highest problem of any art is to cause by appearance the illusion of a higher reality."

"The highest problem of every art is, by means of appearances, to produce the illusion of a loftier reality"

"Beauty is a primeval phenomenon, which itself never makes its appearance, but the reflection of which is visible in a thousand different utterances of the creative mind, and is as various as nature herself."

"Who never ate his bread in sorrow, who never sat the sorrowful nights weeping on his bed, he knows you not, you heavenly Powers."

"Talents are best nurtured in solitude, but character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world"

"Character develops itself in the stream of life."

"Talent develops in quiet, Character in the torrent of the world"

"Life is the childhood of our immortality."

"My poor head is in such a whirl, my mind is all in bits."

"Whatever liberates our spirit without giving us self-control is disastrous."

"While man's desires and aspirations stir he cannot choose but err."

"In all things it is better to hope than to despair"

"We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves."

"Unlike grown ups, children have little need to deceive themselves."

"The person who in shaky times also wavers only increases the evil, but the person of firm decision fashions the universe."

"Destiny grants us our wishes, but in its own way, in order to give us something beyond our wishes."

"Only by joy and sorrow does a person know anything about themselves and their destiny. They learn what to do and what to avoid."

"The destiny of any nation at any given time depends on the opinions of its young men under five-and-twenty"

"I know nothing more mocking than a devil that despairs."

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now."

"Common sense is the genius of humanity."

"Master and Doctor are my titles; for ten years now, without repose, I held my erudite recitals and led my pupils by the nose."

"No wise combatant underestimates their antagonist."

"I will not be as those who spend the day in complaining of headache, and the night in drinking the wine that gives it"

"Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean."

"You accuse a woman of wavering affections, but don't blame her; she is just looking for a consistent man."

"We need a constitution, we need rules, but we don't need a wall,"

"Few are open to conviction, but the majority of men are open to persuasion"

"We are so constituted that we believe the most incredible things; and, once they are engraved upon the memory, woe to him who would endeavor to erase them."

"Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen."

"He is dead in this world who has no belief in another."

"There is a courtesy of the heart; it is allied to love. From its springs the purest courtesy in the outward behavior."

"Behavior is a mirror in which every one displays his own image"

"If you must tell me your opinions, tell me what you believe in. I have plenty of doubts of my own."

"Each ten years of a man's life has its own fortunes, its own hopes, its own desires."

"Give me the benefit of your convictions, if you have any; but keep your doubts to yourself, for I have enough of my own."

"No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others."

"Enjoy what thou has inherited from thy sires if thou wouldn't really possess it. What we employ and use is never an oppressive burden; what the moment brings forth, that only can it profit by."

"He who enjoys doing and enjoys what he has done is happy."

"I have found among my papers a sheet . . . in which I call architecture frozen music."

"Mountains cannot be surmounted except by winding paths."

"The heights charm us, but the steps do not; with the mountain in our view we love to walk the plains."

"If you have any faith, give me, for heaven's sake, a share of it! Your doubts you may keep to yourself, for I have a plenty of my own"

"What life half gives a man, posterity gives entirely."

"Wood burns because it has the proper stuff in it; and a man becomes famous because he has the proper stuff in him."

"If you modestly enjoy your fame you are not unworthy to rank with the holy."

"It is the strange fate of man, that even in the greatest of evils the fear of the worst continues to haunt him."

"People have a peculiar pleasure in making converts, that is, in causing others to enjoy what they enjoy, thus finding their own likeness represented and reflected back to them."