Even in the mud and scum of things, something always, always sings.
Beware what you set your heart upon. For it surely shall be yours.
I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from.
Scatter joy!
I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.
Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great.
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 own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus.
The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.
We are students of words: we are shut up in schools, and colleges, and recitation -rooms, for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bag of wind, a memory of words, and do not know a thing.
The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.
Trust instinct to the end, even though you can give no reason.
Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.
I believe humans have souls, and I believe in the conservation of souls.
Whatever games are played with us, we must play no games with ourselves, but deal in our privacy with the last honesty and truth.
Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures.
The library is the worst group of people ever assembled in history. They’re mean, conniving, rude, and extremely well-read, which makes them dangerous.
Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he could be, and he will become what he should be.
She saw Valentine’s eyes as the sword hurtled toward her; it seemed like eons, though it could only have been a split second. She saw that he could stop the blow if he wanted. Saw that he knew it might well strike her if he didn’t. Saw that he was going to do it anyway.
He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.
All I have seen teaches me to trust the creator for all I have not seen.