I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society. When visitors came in larger and unexpected numbers there was but the third chair for them all
Moreover, I, on my side, require of every writer, first or last, a simple and sincere account of his own life, and not merely what he has heard of other men’s lives; some such account as he would send to his kindred from a distant land; for if he has lived sincerely, it must have been in a distant land to me.
Practically, the old have no very important advice to give the young, their own experience has been so partial, and their lives have been such miserable failures, for private reasons, as they must believe; and it may be that they have some faith left which belies that experience, and they are only less young than they were.
The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling.
stereotyped but unconscious despair is concealed even under what are called the games and amusements of mankind.
What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates, his fate.
but worst of all when you are the slave-driver of yourself.
The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly.
I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew as well.