"I have a very strong belief in the transmigration of souls."

"I have been to hell and back, and let me tell you, it was glorious."

"If you determine to abandon me — here take I my farewell — Neglected — I will be doubly ambitious, & the world shall hear of the son whom you have thought unworthy of your notice."

"I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human progress is an illusion, that man is not an animal that can be perfected, but an animal that can be improved."

"I am a good deal of a cynic, and have a good deal of what the world calls misanthropy. But I am not a misanthrope."