The gratification of wealth is not found in mere possession or in lavish expenditure, but in its wise application.

Imagination and fiction make up more than three quarters of our real life.

Im not in this world to live up to your expectations and youre not in this world to live up to mine.

If you want to keep your memories, you first have to live them.

People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.

Insanity in individuals is rare - but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs, it is the rule.

One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.

Doubt must be no more than vigilance, otherwise it can become dangerous.

One doesn't recognize the really important moments in one's life until it's too late.

I restore myself when I'm alone.

I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.

Not all things are to be discovered; many are better concealed.

Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.

Eventually all things fall into place. Until then, laugh at the confusion, live for the moments, and know everything happens for a reason.

We must all obey the great law of change. It is the most powerful law of nature.

Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.

Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.

That's the trouble with the world. We all despise ourselves.

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live.

The happiest is the person who suffers the least pain; the most miserable who enjoys the least pleasure.

You never know what life is like, until you have lived it.