“Science and art belong to the whole world, and before them vanish the barriers of nationality.”

“Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded.”

“The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation.”

“I examine my own being, and find there a world, but a world rather of imagination and dim desires, than of distinctness and living power. Then everything swims before my senses, and I smile and dream while pursuing my way through the world.”

“Dear me! how long is art!And short is our life!I often know amid the scholar's strifeA sinking feeling in my mind and heart.How difficult the means are to be foundBy which the primal sources may be breached;And long before the halfway point is reached,They bury a poor devil in the ground.”

“Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.”

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