Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form read more

Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.

When something (an affliction) happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.

When something (an affliction) happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.

Speak not at all, in any wise, till you have somewhat to speak;
care not for the reward of read more

Speak not at all, in any wise, till you have somewhat to speak;
care not for the reward of your speaking, but simply and with
undivided mind for the truth of your speaking.

O, my lord,
You said that idle weeds are fast in growth:
The prince my brother hath read more

O, my lord,
You said that idle weeds are fast in growth:
The prince my brother hath outgrown me far.

"Oh! what a vile and abject thing is man unless he can erect
himself above humanity." Here is a read more

"Oh! what a vile and abject thing is man unless he can erect
himself above humanity." Here is a bon mot and a useful desire,
but equally absurd. For to make the handful bigger than the
hand, the armful bigger then the arm, and to hope to stride
further than the stretch of our legs, is impossible and
monstrous. . . . He may lift himself if God lend him His hand of
special grace; he may lift himself . . . by means wholly
celestial. It is for our Christian religion, and not for his
Stoic virtue, to pretend to this divine and miraculous
metamorphosis.

I write down everything I want to remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember read more

I write down everything I want to remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember what it is I wrote down, I spend the time looking for the paper I wrote it down on.

Doubtless there are men of great parts that are guilty of
downright bashfulness, that by a strange hesitation and read more

Doubtless there are men of great parts that are guilty of
downright bashfulness, that by a strange hesitation and
reluctance to speak murder the finest and most elegant thoughts
and render the most lively conceptions flat and heavy.

Better pointed bullets than pointed speeches.

Better pointed bullets than pointed speeches.

Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free
speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. read more

Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free
speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It is
the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational
fears.