“Weary of liberty, he suffered himself to be saddled and bridled, and was ridden to death for his pains.”

“Does not man lack the force at the very point where he needs it most? And when he soars upward in joy, or sinks down in suffering, is not checked in both, is he not returned again to the dull, cold sphere of awareness, just when he was longing to lose himself in the fullness of the infinite.”

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

“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.”

“The suffering may be moral or physical; and in my opinion it is just as absurd to call a man a coward who destroys himself, as to call a man a coward who dies of a malignant fever.”

“What is the destiny of man, but to fill up the measure of his sufferings, and to drink his allotted cup of bitterness?”

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