The longer a man's fame is likely to last, the longer it will be in coming.
It is a clear gain to sacrifice pleasure in order to avoid pain.
The greatest of follies is to sacrifice health for any other kind of happiness.
The first forty years of life give us the text; the next thirty supply the commentary on it.
The greatest achievements of the human mind are generally received with distrust.
There is no doubt that life is given us, not to be enjoyed, but to be overcome; to be got over.
Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see.
Will minus intellect constitutes vulgarity.
Opinion is like a pendulum and obeys the same law. If it goes past the centre of gravity on one side, it must go a like distance on the other; and it is only after a certain time that it finds the true point at which it can remain at rest.
Obstinacy is the result of the will forcing itself into the place of the intellect.
Patriotism, when it wants to make itself felt in the domain of learning, is a dirty fellow who should be thrown out of doors.
Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax.
Rascals are always sociable, more's the pity! and the chief sign that a man has any nobility in his character is the little pleasure he takes in others' company.
Reading is equivalent to thinking with someone else's head instead of with one's own.
Religion is the masterpiece of the art of animal training, for it trains people as to how they shall think.