“Misery travels free through the whole world!”

Man is made of ordinary things, and habit is his nurse.

Innocence has a friend in heaven.

Be noble minded! Our own heart, and not other men’s opinions of us, forms our true honor.

To gain a crown by fighting is great, to reject it divine.

The victor is often vanquished by his own success.

One drop of hatred left in the cup of joy turns the most blissful draught into poison.

Appearance should never attain reality, And if nature conquers, then must art retire.

Full of wisdom are the ordinations of fate.

O the eye’s light is a noble gift of Heaven! All beings live from light, each fair created thing; the very plants turn with a joyful transport to the light.

Yes great people are always subject to persecution and always getting into straits.

If you cannot please everyone with your deeds and your art, please a few. To please many is bad.

Youth covets; let not this covetousness seduce you.

Cowards have done good and kind actions, but a coward never pardoned.

Man is an imitative creature.

A noble heart will always capitulate to reason.

As soon as I have begun to fear I have ceased to fear.

Because we live in a largely free society, we tend to forget how limited is the span of time and the part of the globe for which there has ever been anything like political freedom: the typical state of mankind is tyranny, servitude, and misery.

A still small voice spake unto me, ‘Thou art so full of misery, Were it not better not to be?

Rock bottom is a crisis. And everyone wants to avoid crisis. But what ‘crisis’ means literally is ‘to sift’ – like a child who goes to the beach, lifts up the sand, and watches all the sand fall away, hoping that there’s treasure left over. That’s what crisis does.

Distraction is the only thing that consoles us for our miseries. Yet it is itself the greatest of our miseries.

They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody?

All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.

He who is alone is happy. Do good to all, like everyone, but do not love anyone. It is a bondage, and bondage brings only misery. Live alone in your mind – that is happiness. To have nobody to care for and never minding who cares for one is the way to be free.

Dependence is misery. Independence is happiness.