Toil is man's allotment; toil of brain, or toil of hands, or a grief that's more than either, the grief and sin of idleness.

It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation.

A smile is the chosen vehicle of all ambiguities.

I am, as I am; whether hideous, or handsome, depends upon who is made judge.

Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well- warmed, and well-fed.

Dream tonight of peacock tails, Diamond fields and spouter whales. Ills are many, blessing few, But dreams tonight will shelter you.

Meditation and water are wedded for ever.

I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.

Aye, aye! and I'll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition's flames before I give him up.

War should be carried on like a monsoon; one changeless determination of every particle towards the one unalterable aim.

It is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation. He who has never failed somewhere, that man can not be great. Failure is the true test of greatness.

The strength within you, divine soul, can survive any situation.

There is no repentance where a man can talk lightly of sin, much less where he can speak tenderly and lovingly of it.

Music is geometry in time.

The way to encourage people to be accountable is to engage the responsible, accountable, trustworthy part of their brain.

In the range of music that we play - roughly 300 years' worth-there really are more similarities than differences.

If all alms were given only from pity, all beggars would have starved long ago.

There's nothing wrong with reading a book you love over and over.

It's a little dangerous to be a badass.

Please don't mistake who I am for who the character is.

The first function of a book review should be, I believe, to give some idea of the contents and character of the book.