“For he used to say...that knowledge of the soul would unfailingly make us melancholy if the pleasures of expression did not keep us alert and of good cheer.”

“Mere knowledge of human psychology would in itself infallibly make us despondent if we were not cheered and kept alert by the satisfaction of expressing it.”

“In books we never find anything but ourselves. Strangely enough, that always gives us great pleasure, and we say the author is a genius.”

“(T)here was a story they used to tell at home about a girl whose punishment was that every time she opened her mouth, snakes and toads came out, snakes and toads with every word. The book didn't say what she did about it, but I've always assumed she probably ended up keeping her mouth shut.”

“Is not life in itself a thing of goodness, irrespective of whether the course it takes for us can be called a 'happy' one?”

“He was simply not a “hero”, which is to say, he did not let his relationship with the man be determined by the woman.”

“What good would politics be, if it didn’t give everyone the opportunity to make moral compromises.”