You cannot know wine by the barrell.

The best mirror is an old friend.

A great dowry is a bed full of brables. [A great dowry is a bed full of brambles.]

The honey is sweet, but the Bee stings.

You cannot make a windmill go with a pair of bellows.

A good mother is worth hundreds of schoolmasters.

The eyes have one language everywhere.

Help thyself, and God will help thee.

A gentle heart is tied with an easy thread.

If a donkey bray at you, don't bray at him.

Thou who hast given so much to me, give me one more thing... a grateful heart!

If you don’t pursue purpose, you won’t know what to with your time

The library remains a sacred place for secular folk ["What Libraries Can (Still) Do, " The New York Review Daily, October 26, 2015].

That's what makes a tragedy a tragedy. There's no rhyme or reason to it, only heartbreak. The only thing you can do when the ground stops shaking and the waters recede is try to save whoever's left.

The musician who always plays on the same string is laughed at.

Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay.

If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.

For the poor any choice was a gift with two faces.

I was talking to my publisher in Britain and was told here we are - we are sixty million people and we reckon only four hundred thousand people in Britain really read.

Don't worry about playing a lot of notes. Just find one pretty one.

The idea of being a professional actor never occurred to anybody, including myself, for a long time.