An ancient prophecy ... pronounced, That the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it!

I never found even in my juvenile hours that it was necessary to go a thousand miles in search of themes for moralizing.

The whole secret of life is to be interested in one thing profoundly and in a thousand things well.

In all science, error precedes the truth, and it is better it should go first than last.

Life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel.

The Methodists love your big sinners, as proper subjects to work upon.

This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.

Nine-tenths of the people were created so you would want to be with the other tenth.

Who has begun has half done. Have the courage to be wise. Begin!

Foolish writers and readers are created for each other.

When people will not weed their own minds, they are apt to be overrun by nettles.

Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.

All men love themselves.

I found myself within a forest dark.

One of the most impressive features of brains - and especially human brains - is the flexibility to learn almost any kind of task that comes its way.

The whole world is a series of miracles, but we're so used to them we call them ordinary things.

Boredom, not the will, is the mother of change. Necessity is the father.

In the midst of all dwells the sun.

It's amazing what some people read into songs.

God should not be called an individual substance, since the principle of individuation is matter.