Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one's liberty.

Let us be true: this is the highest maxim of art and of life, the secret of eloquence and of virtue, and of all moral authority.

Any landscape is a condition of the spirit.

He who asks of life nothing but the improvement of his own nature... is less liable than anyone else to miss and waste life.

Tell me what you feel in your room when the full moon is shining in upon you and your lamp is dying out, and I will tell you how old you are, and I shall know if you are happy.

Learn to... be what you are, and learn to resign with a good grace all that you are not.