We must never say, even in fun, that we are disheartened, because someone might take us at our word. - Cesare Pavese

Men who have a tempestuous inner life and do not seek to give vent to it by talking or writing are simply men who have no tempestuous inner life.
Give company to a lonely man and he will talk more than anyone.

When we read, we are not looking for new ideas, but to see our own thoughts given the seal of confirmation on the printed page. The words that strike us are those that awake an echo in a zone we have already made our own—the place where we live—and the vibration enables us to find fresh starting points within ourselves.

Idleness makes hours pass slowly and years swiftly. Activity makes the hours short and the years long.