“We cannot remember too often that when we observe nature, and especially the ordering of nature, it is always ourselves alone we are observing
“To prejudge other men's notions before we have looked into them is not to show their darkness but to put out our own eye
“The thoughts that come often unsought, and, as it were, drop into the mind, are commonly the most valuable of any we have
“Sit in reverie, and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle seashore of the mind
“I have discovered the secret of happiness - it is work, either with the hands or the head. The moment I have something to do, the draughts are open and my chimney draws, and I am happy
“To criticize is to appreciate, to appropriate, to take intellectual possession, to establish in fine a relation with the criticized thing and to make it one's own.
“Experience is never limited, and it is never complete; it is an immense sensibility, a kind of huge spider-web of the finest silken threads suspended in the chamber of consciousness, and catching every air-borne particle in its tissue.
“Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing