“The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.”

“We are all of us more or less echoes, repeating involuntarily the virtues, the defects, the movements, and the characters of those among whom we live.”

“There are those to whom one must advise madness.”

“Never write anything that does not give you great pleasure. Emotion is easily transferred from the writer to the reader.”

“How many people make themselves abstract to appear profound. The most useful part of abstract terms are the shadows they create to hide a vacuum.”

“Those who never retract their opinions love themselves more than they love truth.”

“Children need models rather than critics.”