“Objects close to the eye shut out much larger objects on the horizon; and splendors born only of the earth eclipse the stars. So a man sometimes covers up the entire disk of eternity with a dollar, and quenches transcendent glories with a little shining dust.”

The Conspiracy of Kings (1792)
Context: And didst thou hope, by thy infuriate quill
To rouse mankind the blood of realms to spill?
Then to restore, on death devoted plains,
Their scourge to tyrants, and to man his chains?
To swell their souls with thy own bigot rage,
And blot the glories of so bright an age?
First stretch thy arm, and with less impious might,
Wipe out the stars, and quench the solar light :
“For heav'n and earth," the voice of God ordains,
“Shall pass and perish, but my word remains,"
Th' eternal Word, which gave, in spite of thee,
Reason to man, that bids the man be free.

The Myth of the Eternal Return (1954) [also published as Cosmos and History (1959)].

"The judgement seat", p. 316
Short Stories, Collected short stories 1

Pt. 7
Social Insurance and Allied Services (1942)

Source: Evening Thoughts, Chapter 1, p. 17

Astronomical Observations relating to the Construction of the Heavens... (1811), p. 270

Letter to U.S. Attorney General Augustus Hill Garland (May 27, 1885).