Do not accustom yourself to use big words for little matters.

Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind.

As I know more of mankind I expect less of them, and am ready now to call a man a good man upon easier terms than I was formerly.

Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.

A peasant and a philosopher may be equally satisfied, but not equally happy. Happiness consists in the multiplicity of agreeable consciousness.

A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other.

A cucumber should be well-sliced, dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out.

There's nothing that keeps its youth,<br /> So far as I know, but a tree and truth.

I find the great in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes...

Knowledge and timber shouldn't be much used till they are seasoned.

Don't flatter yourself that friendship authorizes you to say disagreeable things to your intimates. The nearer you come into relation with a person, the more necessary do tact...

A thought is often original, though you have uttered it a hundred times.

Life is a fatal complaint, and an eminently contagious one.

When I think of talking, it is of course with a woman. For talking at its best being an inspiration, it wants a corresponding divine quality of receptiveness, and where will you...

Truth is tough. It will not break, like a bubble, at a touch; nay, you may kick it about all day like a football, and it will be round and full at evening.

To obtain a man's opinion of you, make him mad.

To be 70 years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be 40 years old.

The great thing in this world is not so much where you stand, as in what direction you are moving.

Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body.

Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall.