There is no doubt that life is given us, not to be enjoyed, but to be overcome – to be got over.
We have to forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to become like other people.
To be alone is the fate of all great minds.
The first forty years of life furnish the text, while the remaining thirty supply the commentary.
Sleep is the interest we have to pay on the capital which is called in at death; and the higher the rate of interest and the more regularly it is paid, the further the date of redemption is postponed.
Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax.
Intellect is invisible to the man who has none.
If you desire to get on in the world, friends and acquaintances are by far the best passport to fortune.
Great minds are like eagles, and build their nest on some lofty solitude.
Each day is a little life: every waking and rising a little birth, every fresh morning a little youth, every going to rest and sleep a little death.
A man shows his character just in the way in which he deals with trifles, for then he is off his guard.
A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.