“Though God alone never tastes woe, Yet that man is happy, and poets sing of him, Who conquers with hand or swift foot And wins the greatest of prizes By steadfastness and strength.”

One race there is of men, one of gods, but from one mother we both draw our breath.

The noblest of the elements is water.

Whatever is beautiful is beautiful by necessity.

Great deeds give choice of many tales. Choose a slight tale, enrich it large, and then let wise men listen.

When men succeed, even their neighbors think them wise.

Skills vary with the man. We must tread a straight path and strive by that which is born in us.

Men are the dreams of a shadow.

The days that are still to come are the wisest witnesses.

Even wisdom has to yield to self-interest.

I will be small in small things, great among great.

Not every truth is the better for showing its face undisguised; and often silence is the wisest thing for a man to heed.

Convention is the ruler of all.

Natural ability is by far the best, but many men have succeeded in winning high renown by skill that is the fruit of teaching.

Mankind is a dream of a shadow.

Success for the striven washes away the effort of striving.

The present will not long endure.

And this has sometimes been a lonely road, because I never meet anybody coming the other way.

The words we read and words we write never say exactly what we mean. The people we love are never just as we desire them. The two symbols never perfectly match. Eros is in between.

It is … impossible to keep one’s excellence in a little glass casket, like a jewel, to take it out whenever wanted.

One may keep snug and dry by such knowledge, but one misses a world of loveliness.

Who will look out for you if you do the right thing.

Courage in danger is half the battle.

A wise man who stands firm is a statesman, a foolish man who stands firm is a catastrophe.

It is in the nature of cats to do a certain amount of unescorted roaming.