Where there is no temptation, there is no virtue.

The delusions of the past seem fond and foolish. The delusions of the present seem subtle and sane.

Those persons are happiest in this restless and mutable world who are in love with change, who delight in what is new simply because it differs from what is old; who rejoice in every innovation, and find a strange alert pleasure in all that is, and that has never been before.

The impulse to travel is one of the hopeful symptoms of life.

The friendships of nations, built on common interests, cannot survive the mutability of those interests.

The necessity of knowing a little about a great many things is the most grievous burden of our day. It deprives us of leisure on the one hand, and of scholarship on the other.

No man pursues what he has at hand. No man recognizes the need of pursuit until that which he desires has escaped him.