Dandyism is a variety of genius.
Whoever wishes to attain an English style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison.
The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
Curiosity is one of the most permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.
He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.
Our aspirations are our possibilities.
Exert your talents, and distinguish yourself, and don't think of retiring from the world, until the world will be sorry that you retire.
For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and provide for it.
The full-blown rose, mid dewy sweets Most perfect dies.
Silence, and non action are the root of all things.
Many of the artifacts of my house had become potential devices for my own destruction: the attic rafters (and an outside maple or two) a means to hang myself, the garage a place to inhale carbon monoxide, the bathtub a vessel to receive the flow from my opened arteries. The kitchen knives in their drawers had but one purpose for me.