Theodore Dreiser

"Forgiveness is the act of accepting what cannot be changed."

"We spend our lives preparing for a future that never arrives as expected."

"The deepest forms of suffering are those we inflict upon ourselves."

"Beauty in nature is indifferent to human appreciation or interpretation."

"Every person is both more and less than they appear to be."

"The pursuit of happiness often leads away from happiness itself."

"We are all simultaneously the hero and villain in our own stories."

"The greatest tragedy is the potential left unrealized."

"Language shapes thought more than thought shapes language."

"Hope is the cruelest emotion because it sustains suffering."

"We cannot truly help others until we understand our own helplessness."

"The human condition is defined by our awareness of our own mortality."

"Every achievement carries within it the seeds of future disappointment."