“When scholars study a thing, they strive to kill it first, if it’s alive; then they have the parts and they’ve lost the whole, for the link that’s missing was the living soul.”

We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.

A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.

Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though ’twere his own.

The greatest evil that can befall man is that he should come to think ill of himself.

Every day one should at least hear one little song, read one good poem, see one fine painting and – if at all possible – speak a few sensible words.

If any man wish to write in a clear style, let him be first clear in his thoughts; and if any would write in a noble style, let him first possess a noble soul.

We often feel that we lack something, and seem to see that very quality in someone else, promptly attributing all our own qualities to him too, and a kind of ideal contentment as well. And so the happy mortal is a model of complete perfection–which we have ourselves created.

What is uttered from the heart alone will win the heart of others to your own.

We usually lost today because there has been a yesterday, and tomorrow is coming.

The limits of my language are the limits of my universe.

The heights charm us, but the steps do not; with the mountain in our view we love to walk the plains.

I treat my heart like a sick child and gratify its every fancy.

I wait for the morning of my tears.

I have so much in me, and the feeling for her absorbs it all; I have so much, and without her it all comes to nothing.

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.

Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.

Never go back to a place where you have been happy. Until you do it remains alive for you. If you go back it will be destroyed.

I discovered that my imagination came alive when I moved away from the immediate world around me.

Yes, she has more than a few regrets. And if you don’t, then you should probably live more.

When we are not sure, we are alive.

When I am reading a book, whether wise or silly, it seems to me to be alive and talking to me.

Let us come alive to the splendor that is all around us and see the beauty in ordinary things.

All the dreams you planted in my eyes, will someday haunt you alive.

He had no strength for any other war than his own solitary struggle to keep alive.