I study myself more than any other subject; it is my metaphysic, and my physic.
Beauty, like ice, our footing does betray; Who can tread sure on the smooth, slippery way: Pleased with the surface, we glide swiftly on, And see the dangers that we cannot shun.
When he spoke, what tender words he used! So softly, that like flakes of feathered snow, They melted as they fell.
It is good that the young are beautiful; it is the only advantage they have.
The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art.... If you try to run away from it, if you are scared to go to the brink, you are lost.
The chain of wedlock is so heavy that it takes two to carry it - and sometimes three.
A person who doubts himself is like a man who would enlist in the ranks of his enemies and bear arms agains himself. He makes his failure certain by himself being the first person to be convinced of it.
The work of the world is done on hate. All work done well is well done only when persons hate work done shoddily. Justice can exist only when injustice is hated, laws only when lawlessness is hated, and education only when ignorance is hated. Every improvement this world has ever known was brought about because someone hated intolerable conditions.
Change is an easy panacea. It takes character to stay in one place and be happy there.
A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.
Marriage is that relation between man and woman in which the independence is equal, the dependence mutual, and the obligation reciprocal.
Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.
Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly.
Not only will atomic power be released, but someday we will harness the rise and fall of the tides and imprison the rays of the sun.
I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.
Age does not depend upon years, but upon temperament and health. Some men are born old, and some never grow so.
Doubt, indulged and cherished, is in danger of becoming denial; but if honest, and bent on thorough investigation, it may soon lead to full establishment of the truth.
If rich men would remember that shrouds have no pockets, they would, while living, share their wealth with their children, and give for the good of others, and so know the highest pleasure wealth can give.
Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves.
You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat.
Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal.
If my theory of relativty is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.
I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.