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.

Ideas are a capital that bears interest only in the hands of talent.

...all that we do is governed by the law of opposites in which every so-called positive act is exactly and equally balanced by its opposite.

Winning is not a matter of acceptance but a term of dedication with an interest to achieve.

My life on earth is personal journey.

Take time for yourself. If you feel guilty eating lunch away from yourdesk or lingering in a bath, let the deprogramming begin.

Using for a noble purpose is still using.

for the first time in an age, he saw the beauty of the stars, rather than the darkness between them.

It is just observation that the people commonly intend the Public Good.

If there was one good thing that came out of all this, it was that I got to meet you. I would go through it all again - I would, as long as it meant I'd met you.

Luxury must be comfortable, otherwise it is not luxury.

Vengeance is a personal reaction. But not one that government can indulge in.