“Those who receive with most pains and difficulty, remember best; every new think they learn, being, as it were, burnt and branded in on their minds.”

All men whilst they are awake are in one common world: but each of them, when he is asleep, is in a world of his own.

Painting is silent poetry.

They insist upon the shaving of the mustache, I think, in order that they may accustom the young men to obedience in the most trifling matters.

The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.

Courage consists not in hazarding without fear, but being resolutely minded in a just cause.

Rather I fear on the contrary that while we banish painful thoughts we may banish memory as well.

Silence at the proper season is wisdom and better than any speech.

Know how to listen, and you will profit even from those who talk badly.

It does not follow, that because a particular work of art succeeds in charming us, its creator also deserves our admiration.

I would rather excel in the knowledge of what is excellent than the extent of my power or possessions.

Of all the disorders in the soul, envy is the only one no one confesses to.

I don’t need a friend who changes when I change and who nods when I nod; my shadow does that much better.

It’s a thing of no great difficulty to raise objections against another man’s oration, it is a very easy matter, but to produce a better in its place is a work extremely troublesome.

Music, to create harmony, must investigate discord.

It is a true proverb, that if you live with a lame man, you will learn to limp.

The whole like of a man is but a point of time; let us enjoy it.

I think that the most difficult thing is allowing yourself to be loved, so receiving the love and feeling like you deserve it is a pretty big struggle. I suppose that’s what I’ve learnt recently, to allow myself to be loved.

He who graduates the harshest school, succeeds.

The more difficult it is to forgive someone the greater the opportunity for spiritual growth.

when pain has been intertwined with love and closeness, it’s very difficult to believe that love and closeness can be experienced without pain.

I just managed to convince my grandmother that it was a worth while that was something to do, you know, and when I did finally get the guitar, it didn’t seem that difficult to me, to be able to make a good noise out of it.

I realized, the older I get, the more difficult life becomes. It’s not easier, it’s more difficult.

In the futile attempts we all make to tidy up our lives and our surroundings, nothing is more difficult than throwing out a book.

The purpose of poetry is to remind us / how difficult it is to remain just one person.