The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.
No man can have society upon his own terms.
Nature is what you may do. There is much you may not do.
Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character.
Play out the game, act well your part, and if the gods have blundered, we will not.
Every calamity is a spur and valuable hint.
People wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them.
The effects of opposition are wonderful. There are men who rise refreshed on hearing of a threat, men to whom a crises, which intimidates and paralyzes the majority, comes as graceful and beloved as a bride!
When a man is pushed, tormented, defeated, he has a chance to learn something; he has been put on his wits ... he has gained facts, learned his ignorance, is cured of the insanity of conceit, has got moderation and real skill.
Pain, indolence, sterility, endless ennui have also their lesson for you.
Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.
It is time to be old, To take in sail.
A good indignation brings out all one's powers.
Artists must be sacrificed to their art. Like bees, they must put their lives into the sting they give.
Perpetual modernness is the measure of merit in every work of art.
Beauty without expression tires.
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.
We ascribe beauty to that which is simple; which has no superfluous parts; which exactly answers its ends.
Some thoughts always find us young, and keep us so. Such a thought is the love of the universal and eternal beauty.
Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we will not find it.
