Aphorisms

If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experiment treacherous, judgment difficult.

Nothing is more terrible than ignorance in action.

Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.

A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.

Hell is paved with good intentions.

Talent hits a target no one else can hit; genius hits a target no one else can see.

It is easier to be wise for others than for oneself.

We are never so happy nor so unhappy as we imagine.

He who does not know foreign languages knows nothing of his own.

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.