What a blessing it would be if we could open and shut our ears as easily as we open and shut our eyes.

When a book and a head collide and there is a hollow sound, is it always from the book?

Love is blind, but marriage restores its sight.

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.

Man loves company—even if it is only that of a small burning candle.

The most dangerous untruths are truths moderately distorted.

He was then in his fifty-fourth year, when even in the case of poets, reason and passion begin to discuss a peace treaty and usually conclude it not very long afterwards.

Doubt must be no more than vigilance, otherwise it can become dangerous.

Just as we outgrow a pair of trousers, we outgrow acquaintances, libraries, principles, etc., at times before they’re worn out and at times—and this is the worst of all—before we have new ones.

A BOOK IS A MIRROR: IF AN ASS PEERS INTO IT, YOU CAN’T EXPECT AN APOSTLE TO LOOK OUT.