One can acquire everything in solitude—except character.

The charges we bring against others often come home to ourselves; we inveigh against our faults which are as much ours as theirs; and so our eloquence ends by tellings against ourselves.

He whose honor depends on the opinion of the mob must day by day strive with the greatest anxiety, act and scheme in order to retain his reputation. For the mob is varied and inconsistent, and therefore if a reputation is not carefully preserved it dies quickly.

Men show their characters in nothing more clearly than in what they think laughable.

Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good.

You can tell more about a person by what he says about others, than you can by what others say about him!

The liar is no better than the thief, and if his mendacity takes the form of slander he may be worse than most thieves. It puts a premium upon knavery untruthfully to attack an honest man, or even with hysterical exaggeration to assail a bad man with untruth.

Those disputing, contradicting, and confuting people are generally unfortunate in their affairs. They get victory, sometimes, but they never get good will, which would be of more use to them.

Oh, I offended you with my opinion? You should hear the the ones I keep to myself.

Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.

Be the witness of your thoughts. You are what observes, not what you observe.

Solitude is for me a fount of healing which makes my life worth living.

Be grateful for your life, every detail of it, and your face will come to shine like a sun, and everyone who sees it will be made glad and peaceful.

Thus not only does democracy make every man forget his ancestors, but it hides his descendants and separates his contemporaries from him; it throws him back forever upon himself alone and threatens in the end to confine him entirely within solitude of his own heart.