A bad manner spoils everything, even reason and justice a good one supplies everything, gilds a No, sweetens a truth, and adds a touch of beauty to old age itself. – Baltasar Gracian
Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way. – Baltasar Gracian
To be at ease is better than to be at business. Nothing really belongs to us but time, which even he has who has nothing else. – Baltasar Gracian
Let him that hath no power of patience retire within himself, though even there he will have to put up with himself. – Baltasar Gracian
All sounds are sharper in winter; the air transmits better. At night I hear more distinctly the steady roar of the North Mountain. In summer it is a sort of complacent purr, as the breezes stroke down its sides; but in winter always the same low, sullen growl. – John Burroughs, “The Snow-Walkers,” 1866