It’s the beauty within us that makes it possible for us to recognize the beauty around us. The question is not what you look at but what you see.
I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.
I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.
There are moments when all anxiety and stated toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature.
Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end.
We don’t even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward. In times of tragedy, of war, of necessity, people do amazing things. The human capacity for survival and renewal is awesome.
When we treat man as he is, we make him worse than he is; when we treat him as if he already were what he potentially could be, we make him what he should be.
Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.
Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.
The reality of the other person is not in what he reveals to you, but in what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says but rather to what he does not say.
The appearance of things changes according to the emotions; and thus we see magic and beauty in them, while the magic and beauty are really in ourselves.
A life without love, no matter how many other things we have, is an empty, meaningless one.
The kinder and more intelligent a person is, the more kindness he can find in other people. Kindness enriches our life; with kindness mysterious things become clear, difficult things become easy and dull things become cheerful.
The wisest and noblest teacher is nature itself.
Pray look upon the plants and birds, the ants, spiders, and bees, and you will see them all exerting their nature, and busy in their station. Pray, shall not a man act like a man?
Humans have come into being for the sake of each other, so either teach them, or learn to bear them.
For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.
We are more alike than unalike.
People will never forget how you made them feel.
Beneath the skin, beyond the differing features and into the true heart of being, fundamentally, we are more alike, my friend, than we are unalike.