Destiny is not a passive agent that lies in the lap of the Gods, but is an active instrument that lies in your own hands to shape as you will.

Boredom is the root of all evil - the despairing refusal to be oneself.

It is easy to be brave at a safe distance.

Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.

One who loses wealth loses much. One who loses a friend loses more. But one who loses courage loses all.

No man has any natural authority over his fellow men.

The greatest of wealth is the richness of the soul.

Yes, I guess you could say I am a loner, but I feel more lonely in a crowed room with boring people than I feel on my own.

True knowledge lies in knowing how to live.

Tis very certain the desire of life prolongs it.

There is geometry in the humming of the strings. There is music in the spacing of the spheres.

Only from the heart can you touch the sky.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it.

Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.

Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.

I write with experiences in mind, but I don't write about them, I write out of them.

Common sense is in spite of, not as the result of education.

All great achievements require time.

Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination.

Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.