The despotism of will in ideas is styled plan, project, character, obstinacy; its despotism in desires is called passion.

The most civilized people are as near to barbarism as the most polished steel is to rust. Nations, like metals, have only a superficial brilliancy.

Man spends his life in reasoning on the past, in complaining of the present, in fearing future.

It is the dim haze of mystery that adds enchantment to pursuit.

Of every ten persons who talk about you, nine will say something bad, and the tenth will say something good in a bad way.

The absolute ruler may be a Nero, but he is sometimes a Titus or Marc Aurelius; the people is often Nero, but never Marc Aurelius.

To lose one's self in reverie, one must be either very happy, or very unhappy. Reverie is the child of extremes.

Gold like the sun, which melts wax, but hardens clay, expands great souls.

The only thing wealth does for some people is to make them worry about losing it.

The modest man has everything to gain, and the arrogant man everything to lose; for modesty has always to deal with generosity, and arrogance with envy.

Opinions, theories, and systems pass by turns over the grindstone of time, which at first gives them brilliancy and sharpness, but finally wears them out.

Bring a sword to school. Trust me-those girls will leave you alone.

I sabotage myself for fear of what my bigness could do.

the identity of an individual is essentially a function of her choices, rather than the discovery of an immutable attribute

I call myself an addicted organizer.

I think suspense is a big thing.

I think my capacity to change has given me tremendous happiness, because who I am today I am completely content to be.

[Cities] are not like suburbs, only denser. They differ from towns and suburbs in basic ways, and one of these is that cities are, by definition, full of strangers.

I don't decide to represent anything except myself. But that self is full of collective memory.

When you're taxing bovine flatulence emissions, there's nothing left to tax.

Those who never sail stormy waters are the quickest and harshest judges of bad seamanship.