"One never goes further than when they do not know where they are going."

"Girls we love for what they are; young men for what they promise to be."

"If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise."

"Beware of dissipating your powers; strive constantly to concentrate them. Genius thinks it can do whatever it sees others doing, but it is sure to repent every ill-judged outlay."

"First and last, what is demanded of genius is love of truth."

"The first and last thing required of genius is, love of the truth."

"The greatest genius will never be worth much if he pretends to draw exclusively from his own resources."

"The history of mankind is his character."

"Where is the man who has the strength to be true, and to show himself as he is?"

"Since Time is not a person we can overtake when he is gone, let us honor him with mirth and cheerfulness of heart while he is passing"

"For just when ideas fail, a word comes in to save the situation."

"Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game."

"Man... knows only when he is satisfied and when he suffers, and only his sufferings and his satisfactions instruct him concerning himself, teach him what to seek and what to avoid. For the rest, man is a confused creature; he knows not whence he comes or whither he goes, he knows little of the world, and above all, he knows little of himself."

"Whenever I hear people talking about liberal ideas, I am always astounded that men should love to fool themselves with empty sounds. An idea should never be liberal; it must be vigorous, positive, and without loose ends so that it may fulfill its divine mission and be productive. The proper place for liberality is in the realm of the emotions."

"It seems to never occur to fools that merit and good fortune are closely united."

"We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe."

"Traveling is like gambling: it is always connected with winning and losing, and generally where it is least expected we receive, more or less than what we hoped for."

"All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green."

"I can tell you, honest friend, what to believe: believe life; it teaches better than book or orator."

"He who is firm in will molds the world to himself."

"Be generous with kindly words, especially about those who are absent."

"Giving is the business of the rich."

"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."