Life and Existence

Whatever a man’s age may be, he can reduce it several years by putting a bright-colored flower in his buttonhole.

Maturity means reacquiring the seriousness one had as a child at play.

Maturity means reacquiring the seriousness one had as a child at play.

As we grow old, the beauty steals inward.

As we grow old, the beauty steals inward.

Age is a high price to pay for maturity.

The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.

It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.

What the heart knows today, the head will understand tomorrow.

What we do not understand we do not possess.

The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.

Conscience is a mother-in-law whose visit never ends.

Reason deceives us; conscience, never.

The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

One can only face in others what one can face in oneself.

To have doubted one’s own first principles is the mark of a civilized man.

When one is out of touch with oneself, one cannot touch others.

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

The universe is merely a fleeting idea in God’s mind—a pretty uncomfortable thought, particularly if you’ve just made a down payment on a house.

I don’t see why I am always asking for private, individual, selfish miracles when every year there are miracles like white dogwood.

The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.