“Covetousness is both the beginning and the end of the devil's alphabet...” — Michel de Montaigne Quote

Covetousness is both the beginning and the end of the devil's alphabet - the first vice in corrupt nature that moves, and the last which dies.

It should be noted that children at play are not playing about; their games should be seen as their most serious-minded activity.

It is a sign of contraction of the mind when it is content, or of weariness. A spirited mind never stops within itself; it is always aspiring and going beyond its strength.

A wise man never loses anything, if he has himself.

If a man should importune me to give a reason why I loved him, I find it could no otherwise be expressed, than by making answer: because it was he, because it was I.

The stars that have most glory have no rest.

The air soft as that of Seville in April, and so fragrant that it was delicious to breathe it.

It is the nature of the wise to resist pleasures, but the foolish to be a slave to them.

I grew up in Louisiana and spent my formative years there. There's a contradictory nature to the place and a sort of sinister quality underneath it all.

One can ascend to a higher development only by bringing rhythm and repetition into one's life. Rhythm holds sway in all nature.