“Books must follow sciences and not sciences books.”

Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.

Truth is so hard to tell, it sometimes needs fiction to make it plausible.

Champagne for my real friends, real pain for my sham friends.

Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.

In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.

A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.

Nature is often hidden, sometimes overcome, seldom extinguished.

Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable.

Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not; a sense of humor to console him for what he is.

It is impossible to love and be wise.

For friends, do but look upon good books, they are true friends, that will neither flatter nor dissemble.

The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power.

Truth is the daughter of time, not of authority.

The only really interesting thing is what happens between two people in a room.

Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake.

The worst solitute is to be destitute of true friendship.

The reader, the booklover, must meet his own needs without paying too much attention to what his neighbors say those needs should be.

I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good.

Nature and Books belong to the eyes that see them.

A written word is the choicest of relics.

Too many of us are taking our dreams to our graves. Songs that were never sung. Poems never written. Businesses never started. Relationships never formed. Books never written. Dreams never lived.

You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.

My father had a large library and whenever I could manage I tried to satisfy my passion for reading.

Books are for people who wish they were somewhere else.