I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright.
I was not designed to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.
To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity and trust.
If I am not I, who will be?
If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.
The language of friendship is not words but meanings.
There is one consolation in being sick; and that is the possibility that you may recover to a better state than you were ever in before.
True friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance.
Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it.
In human intercourse the tragedy begins, not when there is misunderstanding about words, but when silence is not understood.
Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.
Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?
That government is best which governs least.
Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh.
It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.
I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.
Do what you love. Know your own bone; gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw it still.
I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.
If misery loves company, misery has company enough.
The man who goes alone can start today; but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.