"The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice."

"When one is grateful for something too good for common thanks, writing is less unsatisfactory than speech-one does not, at least, hear how inadequate the words are."

"What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined for life?"

"No soul is desolate as long as there is a human being for whom it can feel trust and reverence."

"Perhaps the most delightful friendships are those in which there is much agreement, much disputation, and yet more personal liking."

"The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone."

"Brilliance occurs, not when everyone is looking at you, but when they turn their heads."

"A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar."

"When I find myself in the company of scientists, I feel like a shabby curate who has strayed by mistake into a room full of dukes."

"When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity."

"From the persistence of noise comes the insistence of rage. From the emergence of tone comes the divergence of thought. From the enlightenment of music comes the wisdom of... silence."

"We have perhaps a natural fear of ends. We would rather be always on the way than arrive. Given the means, we hang on to them and often forget the ends."