Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing it is not fish they are after.

In wilderness is the preservation of the world.

I have called this principle, by which each slight variation, if useful, is preserved, by the term Natural Selection.

To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand out in the cold.

Waves are inspiring not because they rise and fall, but because each time they fall they never fail to rise again.

Nature never deceives us; it is always we who deceive ourselves.

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.

Be alone, that is the secret of invention; be alone, that is when ideas are born.

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

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.

Give us grace and strength to forbear and to persevere. Give us courage and gaiety and the quiet mind, spare to us our friends, soften to us our enemies.

People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls.

If you can't pay for a thing, don't buy it. If you can't get paid for it, don't sell it. Do this, and you will have calm and drowsy nights, with all of the good business you have now and none of the bad.