“A man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.
“Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence
“Some day science may have the existence of mankind in power, and the human race can commit suicide by blowing up the world
“If we hope for what we are not likely to possess, we act and think in vain, and make life a greater dream and shadow than it really is.
“A cloudy day, or a little sunshine, have as great an influence on many constitutions as the most real blessings or misfortunes
“The important question is not what will yield to man a few scattered pleasures, but what will render his life happy on the whole amount
“Tradition is an important help to history, but its statements should be carefully scrutinized before we rely on them
“Oh, how precious is time, and how it pains me to see it slide away, while I do so little to any good purpose
“Men long for an afterlife in which there apparently is nothing to do but delight in heaven's wonders