No hay día que no recuerde con gozo y ternura aquel único y breve tiempo de mi vida en que fui plenamente yo, sin mezcla y sin traba, y en que puedo … - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

I know the feelings of my heart, and I know men. I am not made like any of those I have seen; I venture to believe that I am not made like any of those who are in existence. If I am not better, at least I am different. Whether Nature has acted rightly or wrongly in destroying the mould in which she cast me, can only be decided after I have been read.

I can understand how it is that city-dwellers, who see only walls and streets and crimes, have so little religion. But I cannot understand how those who live in the country, and the solitary especially, can be lacking in faith. How is it that their souls are not raised in ecstasy a hundred times a day to the Author of the wonders that strike their eyes?

It is too difficult to think nobly when one only thinks to get a living.