"Calming thoughts of all, that coursing on, whate'er men's speculations, amid the changing schools, theologies, philosophies, amid the bawling presentations new and old, the round earth's silent vital laws, facts, modes, continue."
"If it shall ever happen to thee to be turned to outward things, in the desire to please some person, know that thou hast lost thy way of life. Let it be enough for thee in all things to be a philosopher. But if thou desire also to seem one, then seem so to thyself, — for this thou canst."
"If thou wouldst advance, be content to let people think thee senseless and foolish as regards external things. Wish not ever to seem wise, and if ever thou shalt find thyself accounted to be somebody, then mistrust thyself. For know that it is not easy to make a choice that shall agree both with outward things and with Nature, but it must needs be that he who is careful of the one shall neglect the other."
"Open yourself to the pain and pleasure of the world; laugh with the children, listen to the birds, learn from music and all beautiful things. Go to the bedsides of those who die in hospitals, — go into the dark alleys of the city, and do not merely give, but get to know what poverty means; go into the laboratories of vivisectors, and into the places where animals are killed for food, and realize that the torture of the innocent is an actual fact; face it all and feel it all, and recognize that the sin and shame of it are yours unless you fight against them ceaselessly."