It is the mark of a good action that it appears inevitable in the retrospect.
It is perhaps a more fortunate destiny to have a taste for collecting shells than to be born a millionaire.
It is one thing to mortify curiosity, another to conquer it.
It is one of the worst things of sentiment, that the voice grows to be more important than the words, and the speaker than that which is spoken.
It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.
It is not likely that posterity will fall in love with us, but not impossible that it may respect or sympathise; and so a man would rather leave behind him the portrait of his spirit than a portrait of his face.
It is better to lose health like a spendthrift than to waste it like a miser. It is better to live and be done with it, than to die daily in the sick-room.
It is better to be a fool than to be dead. It is better to emit a scream in the shape of a theory than to be entirely insensible to the jars and incongruities of life and take everything as it comes in a forlorn stupidity.
It is a sore thing to have laboured along and scaled the arduous hilltops, and when all is done, find humanity indifferent to your achievement.
It is a mere illusion that, above a certain income, the personal desires will be satisfied and leave a wider margin for the generous impulse.
It is a great thing if you can persuade people that they are somehow or other partakers in a mystery. It makes them feel bigger.
It is a golden maxim to cultivate the garden for the nose, and the eyes will take care of themselves.