By cultivating the beautiful we scatter the seeds of heavenly flowers, as by doing good we cultivate those that belong to humanity.

Argument is meant to reveal the truth, not to create it.

To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.

It's not enough merely to exist. Every man has to seek in his own way to make his own self more noble and to relize his own true worth.

Criticism can never instruct or benefit you. Its chief effect is that of a telegram with dubious news. Praise leaves no glow behind, for it is a writer's habit to remember nothing good of himself. I have usually forgotten those who have admired my work, and seldom anyone who disliked it. Obviously, this is because praise is never enough and censure always too much.

We're terrified of not having the answers, and we would sometimes rather assert an incorrect answer than make our peace with the fact that we really don't know.