The words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels. – Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882–1927)

To select well among old things is almost equal to inventing new ones. – Nicolas Charles Joseph Trublet

It is the little writer rather than the great writer who seems never to quote, and the reason is that he is never really doing anything else. – Havelock Ellis, The Dance of Life, 1923

It should be a pleasure to the appreciative reader, while recognizing their beauty, to cull these flowers of thought for the benefit of those who, less fortunate than himself, have not the time to indulge in literary pleasures. – Maturin M. Ballou, January 1886, preface to Edge-Tools of Speech