"Sometimes you may find a man skillful in his trade, perfect in sagacity and in the use of arguments, but when he comes to religion he is found obstinate, so does he follow in the old groove. Piety is implanted into human nature; it is deemed a sure refuge. To the growing child, that which falls from his mother's lips is a lesson that abides with him all his life. Monks in their cloisters and devotees in their mosques accept their creed just as a story is handed down from him who tells it, without distinguishing between a true interpreter and a false. If one of these had found his kin among the Magians, or among the Sabians, he would have become nearly or quite like them."

“Fear of death pushed Seven Sleepers into a cave,Made Noah and his son build a ship;Nor did Moses and Adam think it pleasant to dieThough they were promised paradise.”

“And I, albeit I come in Time's late hour,Achieve what lay not in the ancients' power.”

“They know me well.How could they conceal a resplendent sun?”

“The holy fights by Moslem heroes fought,The saintly works by Christian hermits wroughtAnd those of Jewry or of Sabian creed—Their valour reaches not the Indian's deedWhom zeal and awe religiously inspire To cast his body on the flaming pyre.”

“Methink I am thrice-imprisoned—ask not meOf news that need no telling—By loss of sight, confinement in my house,And this vile body for my spirit’s dwelling.”

“We laugh, but inept is our laughter;We should weep and weep sore,Who are shattered like glass, and thereafterRe-moulded no more!”