It has been wisely said that we cannot really love anybody at whom we never laugh.

The universality of a custom is pledge of its worth.

the labors of the true critic are more essential to the author, even, than to the reader.

The gayety of life, like the beauty and the moral worth of life, is a saving grace, which to ignore is folly, and to destroy is crime. There is no more than we need; there is barely enough to go round.

People who pin their faith to a catchword never feel the necessity of understanding anything.

Just as we are often moved to merriment for no other reason than that the occasion calls for seriousness, so we are correspondingly serious when invited too freely to be amused.

Whatever has "wit enough to keep it sweet" defies corruption and outlasts all time; but the wit must be of that outward and visible order which needs no introduction or demonstration at our hands.