The virtue of the soul does not consist in flying high, but walking orderly grandeur does not exercise itself in grandeur, but in mediocrity

Once conform, once do what others do because they do it, and a kind of lethargy steals over all the finer senses of the soul

The finest souls are those that have the most variety and suppleness

It is easier to write an indifferent poem than to understand a good one

Marriage...we cannot do without it, and yet we disgrace and vilify the same. It may be compared to a cage, the birds without despair to get in, and those within despair to get out

Marriage is like a cage; one sees the birds outside desperate to get in, and those inside equally desperate to get out

The finest lives, in my opinion, are those who rank in the common model, and with the human race, but without miracle, without extravagance

Life is a dream when we sleep we are awake, and when awake we sleep

Even on the most exalted throne in the world we are only sitting on our own bottom

In nine lifetimes, you'll never know as much about your cat as your cat knows about you