A man dies still if he has done nothing, as one who has done much. – Homer

We look for some reward of our endeavours and are disappointed; not success, not happiness, not even peace of conscience, crowns our ineffectual efforts to do well. – Robert Louis Stevenson, “Pulvis et umbra,” 1888

We should scarcely desire things ardently if we were perfectly acquainted with what we desire. – Francois de La Rochefoucauld