For forms of government, let fools contest; Whate'er is best administered, is best.

Time conquers all, and we must time obey.

What will a child learn sooner than a song?

If, presume not to God to scan; The proper study of Mankind is Man. Plac'd on this isthmus of a middle state, a being darkly wise, and rudely great.

Placed on this isthmus of a middle state.

For critics, as they are birds of prey, have ever a natural inclination to carrion.

I begin where most people end, with a full conviction of the emptiness of all sorts of ambition, and the unsatisfactory nature of all human pleasures.