I believe that men are generally still a little afraid of the dark, though the witches are all hung, and Christianity and candles have been introduced. – Henry David Thoreau, “Solitude,” Walden, 1854

The silkworm spins out his life, and, wrapping himself in his labor, dies. – Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (1802-1866), “Religion in Disease,” 1865

To know the hight of a mountain, one must climb it. – Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers