“A thatched roof once covered free men; under marble and gold dwells slavery.”

“The common people (live in) poverty so great and miserable that the life of the people can be depicted or accurately described only as the home of stark want and the dwelling place of bitter woe… their houses are built of mud with thatched roofs. Furniture there is little or none, except some earthenware pots to hold water and for cooking…”

“Marble, I perceive, covers a multitude of sins.”

“Iron, after it is converted into gold by the touch of philosopher's stone, may be kept under the ground or thrown into a rubbish heap; it will always remain gold and will not return to its former condition. Similar is the state of the man whose soul has touched, even once, the feet of the Almighty Lord. Whether he dwells in the bustle of the world, or in the solitude of the forest, nothing ever contaminates him.”

“We reject the pharisaical sanctity, which is but a covering of shame, under which sin has free play.”

“A library is infinity under a roof.”

“Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul.”

“With thinking men, the question can never arise, who ought to be free? Because no one ought to be free. All government is slavery.”

“The floors are of marble or mosaic or are covered with hundreds of thousands of yards of carpets. The lifts are almost without number...”

“In all ages the people have honored those who dishonored them. They have worshiped their destroyers; they have canonized the most gigantic liars, and buried the great thieves in marble and gold. Under the loftiest monuments sleeps the dust of murder.”