"The spark of ambition becomes a blaze of accomplishment only through disciplined persistence. In this truth lies the bedrock of all virtue."

"He who understands his own mind is never bewildered by the complexities of the world. This remains the cornerstone of personal mastery — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"It is a timeless truth that the river of time washes away kings and empires, leaving only virtue intact — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"Beauty in art is the harmony of spirit, intellect, and craft. Reflect upon this whenever doubt clouds your horizon — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"We have time, there's no big rush."

"Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig. I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen."

"Time is generally the best doctor."

"Like everything which is not the involuntary result of fleeting emotion but the creation of time and will, any marriage, happy or unhappy, is infinitely more interesting than any romance, however passionate."