The Gods we worship write their names on our faces; be sure of that.

Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they be executed.

The ancestor of every action is a thought.

Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.

He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.

There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us.

“As for omens, there is no such thing as an omen. Destiny does not send us heralds. She is too wise or too cruel for that.” 

“The one charm about the past is that it is the past. But women never know when the curtain has fallen. ” 

“Conscience makes egotists of us all.” 

I do not wish more external goods, — neither possessions, nor honors, nor powers, nor persons. The gain is apparent; the tax is certain.

“The only horrible thing in the world is ennui.” 

“As for believing things, I can believe anything, provided that it is quite incredible.” 

“I can stand brute force, but brute reason is quite unbearable. There is something unfair about it's use. It is hitting below the intellect.” 

“In the common world of fact the wicked were not punished, nor the good rewarded. Success was given to the strong, failure thrust upon the weak. That was all. ” 

“She knew nothing but she had everything he had lost.” 

“People say sometimes that Beauty is superficial. That may be so. But at least it is not so superficial as Thought is. To me, Beauty is the wonder of wonders. It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.” 

“Perhaps, after all, America never has been discovered. I myself would say that it had merely been detected.” 

“Every effect that one produces gives one an enemy. To be popular one must be a mediocrity.” 

I no longer wish to meet a good I do not earn, for example, to find a pot of buried gold, knowing that it brings with it new burdens.

All the good of nature is the soul’s, and may be had, if paid for in nature’s lawful coin, that is, by labor which the heart and the head allow.

And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.

A man is relieved and gay when he has put his heart into his work and done his best; but what he has said or done otherwise, shall give him no peace.

Life is a train of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their aint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus.

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.