That sign of old age, extolling the past at the expense of the present

The characteristic of the present age is craving credulity

The present age ... prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, fancy to reality, the appearance to the essence ... for in these days illusion only is sacred, truth profane.

Happy is the person who knows what to remember of the past, what to enjoy in the present, and what to plan for in the future.

The diseases of the present have little in common with the diseases of the past save that we die of them

Look not mournfully into the past, it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present, it is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart.