Everything is beautiful only so long as it does not concern us. - Arthur Schopenhauer

Politeness is to human nature what warmth is to wax.

The best consolation in misfortune or affliction of any kind will be the thought of other people who are in a still worse plight than yourself; and this is a form of consolation open to every one. But what an awful fate this means for mankind as a whole! We are like lambs in a field, disporting themselves under the eye of the butcher, who chooses out first one and then another for his prey.

To find out your real opinion of someone, judge the impression you have when you first see a letter from them.