Good results are sometimes owing to a failure of judgment, because the faculty of judgment often hinders us from undertaking many things which would succeed if carried through without thinking.

Pettiness of mind, ignorance and presumption are the cause of stubbornness, because stubborn people only want to believe what they themselves can imagine, and they can imagine very few things.

To be too dissatisfied with ourselves is a weakness. To be too satisfied with ourselves is a stupidity.

It is a singular characteristic of love that we cannot hide it where it exists, or pretend it where it does not exist.

We prefer people who are trying to imitate us more than those who are trying to equal us. This is because imitation is a sign of esteem, but the desire to equal others is a sign of envy.

Honest and sincere acts mislead the wicked and cause them to lose their path to their own goals, because mean-spirited people usually believe that people never act without deceit.

It is vain and useless to survey everything that goes on in the world if our study does not help us mend our ways.

Sometimes we praise the way things used to be in order to blame the present, and we esteem what is no longer in order to scorn what is.

Mean-spirited mediocrities, especially those with a smattering of learning, are the most likely to be opinionated. Only strong minds know how to correct their opinions and abandon a bad position.

Even the best-natured people, if uninstructed, are always blind and uncertain. We must take pains to instruct ourselves so that ignorance makes us neither too timid nor too bold.

Criticism should awaken our attention, not inflame our anger. We should listen to, and not flee from, those who contradict us. Truth should be our cause, no matter in what manner it comes to us.

Don't Panic

…I keep looking for one more teacher, only to find that fish learn from the water and birds learn from the sky.” (p.275)

When you want to fool the world, tell the truth.

There is only one belief that can rob death of its sting and the grave of its victory. For without that you cannot be born again.

Suppose the world were only one of God's jokes, would you work any the less to make it a good joke instead of a bad one?

When I come residence from an evening out with my honey and my make-up's just a little smudged. I have many moments when I really feel lovely. It's all about having that inside confidence.

This country wants to live in the illusion that it is tolerant but also wants to be able to practice intolerance.

Instead of building walls, we should be building bridges.

I try to stay a civilian, to live as a human, not as a poet.