An Observer (n.) who is curious sees a great deal, the scientific one is worthy of honor, the anxious one sees what others do not, but the crazy observer sees perhaps most — his fixed idea becomes an instinct for prying things out.
An Observer (n.) such as I am, a sort of public watchman, has great joy in bowing: I never envied Napoleon his greatness but envied the two chamberlains who threw open the doors and announced, "The Emperor!"
An Observer (n.) is sorry to see religion disappear not for mankind's sake but his own — he wants material for his observations; and he keeps out of it lest he discover it doubtful whether he is not guilty.
An Observer (n.) plays a role with something treacherous in it: to wish to be merely an observer is already a betrayal.
An Observer (n.) is no friend: the deeper natures, slow to find themselves, are absorbed in themselves and are observers.
An Observer (n.) who pays attention to himself has enough with five men, five women and ten children to discover every possible state of the human soul — no need for Paris and London.
The Observer (n.) is what a man without confidants is constrained to be — enriched by seeing people through and through, tuning his mind like an instrument, but not really living.