I write to keep from going mad from the contradictions I find among mankind--and to work some of those contradictions out for myself.

Can anything be imagined so ridiculous, that this miserable and wretched creature [man], who is not so much as master of himself, but subject to the injuries of all things, should call himself master and emperor of the world, of which he has not power to know the least part, much less to command the whole?

The least strained and most natural ways of the soul are the most beautiful; the best occupations are the least forced.

Satiety comes of too frequent repetition; and he who will not give himself leisure to be thirsty can never find the true pleasure of drinking

Nothing is so firmly believed as that which is least known

The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them... Whether you find satisfaction in life depends not on your tale of years, but on your will.