Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.

There is nothing more uncommon than common sense.

The wise man should restrain his senses like the crane and accomplish his purpose with due knowledge of his place, time and ability.

In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.

Work is the price which is paid for reputation.

There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what you're talking about.

Good advice is always certain to be ignored, but that's no reason not to give it.

The most certain sign of wisdom is cheerfulness.

Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

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.

Dark and difficult times lie ahead. Soon we must all face the choice between what is right and what is easy.

And this sensitivity will create new friendships for you - friendships with trees, with birds, with animals, with mountains, with rivers, with oceans, with stars. Life becomes richer as love grows.

The path to success is to take massive, determined action.

Love make us poets, and the approach of death should make us philosophers.

There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.

Proverbs are short sentences drawn from long experience.

The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as of the greatest virtues.

If you don't know where you're from, you'll have a hard time saying where you're going.

If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.