“The value of life ist not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them; a man may live long yet very little
“It was one of the deadliest and heaviest feelings of my life to feel that I was no longer a boy. From that moment I began to grow old in my own esteem, and in my esteem age is not estimable
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young
“While one finds company in himself and his pursuits, he cannot feel old, no matter what his years may be
“Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul
“Do not waste your time on social questions. What is the matter with the poor is poverty; what is the matter with the rich is uselessness.
“It’s none of their business that you have to learn how to write. Let them think you were born that way
“The post office has a great charm at one point of our lives. When you have lived to my age, you will begin to think letters are never worth going through the rain for
“When earth breaks up and heaven expands, how will the change strike me and you in the house not made with hands?
“We seldom repent of speaking little, very often of speaking too much: a vulgar and trite maxim, which all the world knows and, but which all the world does not practice
“Democracy divides people into workers and loafers. It makes no provision for those who have no time to work
“Separate from the pleasure of your company, I don't much care if I never see another mountain in my life
“There are so many things about which some old man ought to tell one while one is little; for when one is grown one would know them as a matter of course
“It is no little wisdom for you to keep yourself in silence and in good peace when evil words are spoken to you, and to turn your heart to God and not to be troubled with the judgment of others
“Progress, under whose feet the grass mourns and the forest turns into paper from which newspaper plants grow, has subordinated the purpose of life to the means of subsistence and turned us into the nuts and bolts for our tools
“No one ever regarded the First of January with indifference. It is that from which all date their time, and count upon what is left. It is the nativity of our common Adam
“Just as we outgrow a pair of trousers, we outgrow acquaintances, libraries, principles, etc., at times before they're worn out and times - and this is the worst of all - before we have new ones