Spreuken over Natuur

RELIGION, n. A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable."What is your religion my son?" inquired the Archbishop of Rheims."Pardon, monseigneur," replied Rochebriant; "I am ashamed of it.""Then why do you not become an atheist?""Impossible! I should be ashamed of atheism.""In that case, monsieur, you should join the Protestants."

Such is the nature of men, that howsoever they may acknowledge many others to be more witty, or more eloquent, or more learned; yet they will hardly believe there be many so wise as themselves.

Novelists are perhaps the last people in the world to be entrusted with opinions. The nature of a novel is that it has no opinions, only the dialectic of contrary views, some of which, all of which, may be untenable and even silly. A novelist should not be too intelligent either, although he may be permitted to be an intellectual.

A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought.

How quickly nature falls into revoltWhen gold becomes her object!