A man who has no mental needs, because his intellect is of the narrow and normal amount, is, in the strict sense of the word, what is called a philistine.
Each day is a little life.
The highest, most varied and lasting pleasures are those of the mind.
Men need some kind of external activity, because they are inactive within.
Money alone is absolutely good, because it is not only a concrete satisfaction of one need in particular; it is an abstract satisfaction of all.
Solitude will be welcomed or endured or avoided, according as a man’s personal value is large or small.
Materialism is the philosophy of the subject who forgets to take account of himself.
A writer should never be brief at the expense of being clear.
For it is a matter of daily observation that people take the greatest pleasure in that which satisfies their vanity; and vanity cannot be satisfied without comparison with others.
The young should early be trained to bear being left alone; for it is a source of happiness and peace of mind.
Vengeance taken will often tear the heart and torment the conscience.
How is it possible that suffering that is neither my own nor of my concern should immediately affect me as though it were my own, and with such force that is moves me to action?
Freedom of the press is to the machinery of the state what the safety valve is to the steam engine.
A man shows his character just in the way in which he deals with trifles, for then he is off his guard.
No doubt, when modesty was made a virtue, it was a very advantageous thing for the fools, for everybody is expected to speak of himself as if he were one.
Vulgar people take huge delight in the faults and follies of great men.
It is, indeed, only in old age that intellectual men attain their sublime expression, whilst portraits of them in their youth show only the first traces of it.
A man of business will often deceive you without the slightest scruple, but he will absolutely refuse to commit a theft.
The reason domestic pets are so lovable and so helpful to us is because they enjoy, quietly and placidly, the present moment.
The present is the only reality and the only certainty.