Emotion turning back on itself, and not leading on to thought or action, is the element of madness. – John Sterling
The worst education which teaches self-denial, is better than the best which teaches everything else, and not that. – John Sterling
Instinct is intelligence incapable of self-consciousness. – John Sterling
It is very difficult to be wholly joyous or wholly sad on this earth. The comic, when it is human, soon takes upon itself a face of pain; and some of our grieves… have their source in weaknesses which must be recognized with smiling compassion as the common inheritance of us all. – Joseph Conrad