Knowledge, if it does not determine action, is dead to us.

So it is with minds. Unless you keep them busy with some definite subject that will bridle and control them, they throw themselves in disorder hither and yon in the vague field of imagination. ..And there is no mad or idle fancy that they do no bring forth in the agitation.

The stream of thought flows on; but most of its segments fall into the bottomless abyss of oblivion. Of some, no memory survives the instant of their passage. Of others, it is confined to a few moments, hours or days. Others, again, leave vestiges which are indestructible, and by means of which they may be recalled as long as life endures.

Your face is a book, where men may read strange matters.

Get away from the crowd when you can. Keep yourself to yourself, if only for a few hours daily.

Virtue and genuine graces in themselves speak what no words can utter.

In so far as the mind is stronger than the body, so are the ills contracted by the mind more severe than those contracted by the body.

If one has no vanity in this life of ours, there is no sufficient reason for living.

To be feared is to fear: no one has been able to strike terror into others and at the same time enjoy peace of mind.

As soon as any man says of the affairs of the State "What does it matter to me?" the State may be given up for lost.