Science was false by being unpoetical. It assumed to explain a reptile or a mollusk, and isolated it-which is hunting for life in graveyards. Reptile or mollusk or man or angel only exists in system, in relation.
The angels are so enamored of the language that is spoken in heaven that they will not distort their lips with the hissing and unmusical dialects of men, but speak their own, whether their be any who understand it or not.
The eye is easily frightened.
In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows.
He who travels in search of something which he has not got, travels away from himself and grows old even in youth among old things.
The two terrors that discourage creativity and creative living are fear of public opinion and undue reverence for one’s own consistency.
Obedience alone gives the right to command.
When duty whispers low, Thou must, The youth replies, I can.
When a man says to me, “I have the intensest love of nature,” at once I know that he has none.
We are as much informed of a writer’s genius by what he selects as by what he originates.
We do not know today whether we are busy or idle. In times when we thought ourselves indolent, we have afterwards discovered that much was accomplished, and much was begun in us.
You cannot do a kindness too soon.
Give no bounties: make equal laws: secure life and prosperity and you need not give alms.
The soul refuses limits and always affirms an optimism, never a pessimism.
Each man has his own vocation; his talent is his call. There is one direction in which all space is open to him.
Imagination is not a talent of some men but is the health of every man.
A few strong instincts and a few plain rules suffice us.
The power of love, as the basis of a State, has never been tried.
The greatest discoveries are those that shed light unto ourselves.
Line in Nature is not found; Unit and Universe are round.