“In this world one is seldom reduced to make a selection between two alternatives. There are as many varieties of conduct and opinion as there are turns of feature between an aquiline nose and a flat one.”

“You are aware of only one unrest;Oh, never learn to know the other!Two souls, alas, are dwelling in my breast,And one is striving to forsake its brother.Unto the world in grossly loving zest,With clinging tendrils, one adheres;The other rises forcibly in questOf rarefied ancestral spheres.If there be spirits in the airThat hold their sway between the earth and sky,Descend out of the golden vapors thereAnd sweep me into iridescent life.Oh, came a magic cloak into my handsTo carry me to distant lands,I should not trade it for the choicest gown,Nor for the cloak and garments of the crown.”

“The world runs on from one folly to another; and the man who, solely from regard to the opinion of others, and without any wish or necessity of his own, toils after gold, honour, or any other phantom, is no better than a fool.”

“The more one knows, the more one comprehends, the more one realizes that everything turns in a circle.”

“Error is related to truth as sleeping is to waking. I have observed that when one has been in error, one turns to truth as though revitalized.”

“For many people, one of the most frustrating aspects of life is not being able to understand other people's behavior.”

“Your suns and worlds are not within my ken,I merely watch the plaguey state of men.The little god of earth remains the same queer spriteAs on the first day, or in primal light.His life would be less difficult, poor thing,Without your gift of heavenly glimmering;He calls it Reason, using light celestialJust to outdo the beasts in being bestial.To me he seems, with deference to Your Grace,One of those crickets, jumping round the place,Who takes his flying leaps, with legs so long,Then falls to grass and chants the same old song;But, not content with grasses to repose in,This one will hunt for muck to stick his nose in.”