“Man is not born to solve the problem of the universe, but to find out what he has to do; and to restrain himself within the limits of his comprehension.”

“Is this the destiny of man? Is he only happy before he has acquired his reason or after he has lost it?”

“Every reader, if he has a strong mind, reads himself into the book, and amalgamates his thoughts with those of the author.”

“A man's shortcomings are taken from his epoch; his virtues and greatness belong to himself.”

“We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.”

“A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.”

“When a nation which has long groaned under the intolerable yoke of a tyrant rises at last and throws off its chains, do you call that weakness? The man who, to rescue his house from the flames, finds his physical strength redoubled, so that he lifts burdens with ease which in the absence of excitement he could scarcely move; he who under the rage of an insult attacks and puts to flight half a score of his enemies,—are such persons to be called weak? My good friend, if resistance be strength, how can the highest degree of resistance be a weakness?”