The louder the talked of his honour, the faster we counted our spoons.

Knowingthat everything's futile but still fighting, still raging against the dying ofthe light that's what motivates me all the time ... If you hold that sense offutility in your head for too long, it can begin to eat into you. You canstill be aware of it

Sincerity is impossible, unless it pervades the whole being, and the pretence of it saps the very foundation of character

To rule is not so much a question of the heavy hand as the firm seat.

He whoangers you, conquers you.

Ability is poor men's wealth

Conflictis the gadfly of thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. Itinstigates to invention. It shocks us out of sheeplikepassivity, and sets us at noting and contriving.

I give myself,sometimes, admirable advice, but I am incapable of taking it.

Enthusiasm is faith set on fire.

We willbe known by the tracks we leave behind.

Silenceis the mother of truth.

Nature gave women too much power; the law gives them too little.