"No sadder proof can be given by man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men."

"The best effect of any book is that it excites the reader to self-activity."

"If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even crucify him. They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he had to say, and make fun of it."

"Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance but to do what lies clearly at hand."

"A person usually has two reasons for doing something: a good reason and the real reason."

"True humor springs not more from the head than from the heart. It is not contempt; its essence is love. It issues not in laugther, but in still smiles, which lie far deeper."

"What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows."

"The world tolerates conceit from those who are successful, but not from anybody else."

"When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it."

"The smaller the mind the greater the conceit."

"An ostentatious man will rather relate a blunder or an absurdity he has committed, than be debarred from talking of his own dear person."

"We are so vain that we even care for the opinion of those we don't care for."