"All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone."

"Faith certainly tells us what the senses do not, but not the contrary of what they see it is above, not against them."

"The greatness of man is great in that he knows himself to be wretched. A tree does not know itself to be wretched."

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

"Every scar carries the quiet memory of a battle faced and survived. Such is the immutable nature of understanding."

"Ideas devour the ages as men are devoured by their passions. When man is cured, human nature will cure itself perhaps."

"In the arithmetic of human affection, the more you give, the more you retain. Such is the immutable nature of understanding."

"The Egyptians could run to Egypt, the Syrians into Syria. The only place we could run was into the sea, and before we did that we might as well fight."