“It is fortunate to be of high birth, but it is no less so to be of such character that people do not care to know whether you are or are not.
“As favor and riches forsake a man, we discover in him the foolishness they concealed, and which no one perceived before
“To extinguish the free will is to strike the conscience with death, for both have but one and the same life
“I will give you a definition of a proud man: he is a man who has neither vanity nor wisdom, one filled with hatreds cannot be vain, neither can he be wise
“This is something that I cannot get over, that a whole line could be written by half a man, that a work could be built on the quicksand of a character
“It is not the truth that a man possesses, or believes that he possesses, but the earnest effort which he puts forward to reach the truth, which constitutes the worth of a man.
“Men of age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon, and seldom drive business home to the full period, but content themselves with a mediocrity of success
“The 'morality of compromise' sounds contradictory. Compromise is usually a sign of weakness, or an admission of defeat. Strong men don't compromise, it is said, and principles should never be compromised
“Grandeur of character lies wholly in force of soul, that is, in the force of thought, moral principle, and love, and this may be found in the humblest condition of life