Modesty and diffidence make a man unfit for public affairs; they also make him unfit for brothels.

The spirit of Greece, passing through and ascending above the world, hath so animated universal nature, that the very rocks and woods, the very torrents and wilds burst forth with it.

No ashes are lighter than those of incense, and few things burn out sooner.

There is nothing on earth divine except humanity.

Truth, like the juice of the poppy, in small quantities, calms men; in larger, heats and irritates them, and is attended by fatal consequences in excess.

We are no longer happy so soon as we wish to be happier.

A man's vanity tells him what is honor, a man's conscience what is justice.

My thoughts are my company; I can bring them together, select them, detain them, dismiss them.

Friendship is a vase, which, when it is flawed by heat, or violence, or accident, may as well be broken at once; it can never be trusted after.

The Siren waits thee, singing song for song.

A good cook is the peculiar gift of the gods. He must be a perfect creature from the brain to the palate, from the palate to the finger's end.

Making money is not gonna change anything about what I am, except I won't answer the door.

The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient. One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach - waiting for a gift from the sea.

It's basic research: shoot an arrow in the air. Where it lands, paint a bullseye.

After you've done it for so many years, you have to find a new direction. You have to find something in your soul that's going to push you towards - to find your inspiration.

If a nation's literature declines, the nation atrophies and decays.

Every action in company ought to be with some sign of respect to those present.

The World is a very complex system. It is easy to have too simple a view of it, and it is easy to do harm and to make things worse under the impulse to do good and make things better.

In the space between our bodies there is a cup holder filled with pennies a distance which can often take years to cross.

Many have told me through the years: 'I think I'll take my chances without Jesus.' And I always come back and say, 'So what chance is that?'

Every person has only so much attention to give, and politics and government takes up only a fraction of what it did 25 years ago.