“People exaggerate both happiness and unhappiness; we are never so fortunate nor so unfortunate as people say we are.”

Gratitude is a fool’s word; we find it in the dictionary, but it is not in the heart of man.

Though the human heart may have to pause for rest when climbing the heights of affection it rarely stops on the slippery slope of hatred.

A courage which looks easy & yet is rare; the courage of a teacher repeating day after day the same lessons – the least rewarded of all forms of courage.

Poetry is only born after painful journeys into the vast regions of thought.

Women are happy to possess a man whom all women covet.

The boor covers himself, the rich man or the fool adorns himself, and the elegant man gets dressed.

Temperament is the thermometer of character.

Hope is a light diet, but very stimulating.

A man is a poor creature compared to a woman.

Great minds always tend to see virtue in misfortune.

God is the poet; men are but the actors. The great dramas of earth were written in heaven.

Love is the poetry of the senses.

Life cannot go on without much forgetting.

It is easy to sit up and take notice, What is difficult is getting up and taking action.

Noble hearts are neither jealous nor afraid because jealousy spells doubt and fear spells pettiness.

Women, when they have made a sheep of a man, always tell him that he is a lion with a will of iron.

Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.

If fortune favors you do not be elated; if she frowns do not despond.

The happiness and misery of men depend no less on temper than fortune.

The good fortune of my life, which has been to turn those glittering nights into my job, all came from there.

Though nature be ever so generous, yet can she not make a hero alone. Fortune must contribute her part too; and till both concur, the work cannot be perfected.

There is a kind of elevation which does not depend on fortune; it is a certain air which distinguishes us, and seems to destine us for great things; it is a price which we imperceptibly set upon ourselves.

I had the fortune or misfortune to learn how to read fluently starting at the age of three.

Fortunately, the courts discharged me every time after they understood what I had done.