The first duty of man is to conquer fear he must get rid of it, he cannot act till then. – Thomas Carlyle
Fun I love, but too much fun is of all things the most loathsome. Mirth is better than fun, and happiness is better than mirth. – Thomas Carlyle
When the oak is felled the whole forest echoes with it fall, but a hundred acorns are sown in silence by an unnoticed breeze. – Thomas Carlyle
Good breeding differs, if at all, from high breeding only as it gracefully remembers the rights of others, rather than gracefully insists on its own rights. – Thomas Carlyle
My greatest fear is feeling like a professional novelist. Somebody who creates characters, who sits down and has pieces of paper taped to the wall – whats going to happen in this scene, or this act. What I like is for it to be a much more scary, sloppy reflection of who I am. – Jonathan Safran Foer