Mastery Is Often Taken For Egotism.

People Are Always Talking About Originality; But What Do They Mean? As Soon As We Are Born, The World Begins To Work Upon Us; And This Goes On To The End. And After All, What Can We Call Our Own, Except Energy, Strength, And Will? If I Could Give An Account Of All That I Owe To Great Predecessors And Contemporaries, There Would Be But A Small Balance In My Favor.

Everything We Do Has A Result. But That Which Is Right And Prudent Does Not Always Lead To Good, Nor The Contrary To What Is Bad.

Not All That Is Presented To Us As History Has Really Happened; And What Really Happened Did Not Actually Happen The Way It Is Presented To Us; Moreover, What Really Happened Is Only A Small Part Of All That Happened. Everything In History Remains Uncertain, The Largest Events As Well As The Smallest Occurrence.

Literature Is A Fragment Of A Fragment. Of All That Ever Happened, Or Has Been Said, But A Fraction Has Been Written; And Of This But Little Is Extant.

Traveling Is Like Gambling: It Is Always Connected With Winning And Losing And Generally Where It Is Least Expected We Receive, More Or Less Than What We Hoped For.