... though mathematics may teach a man how to build a bridge, it is what the Scotch Universities call the humanities, that teach him to be civil and sweet-tempered.

This world is run with far too tight a rein for luck to interfere. Fortune sells her wares; she never gives them. In some form or other, we pay for her favors; or we go empty away.

... money trials are not the hardest, and somehow or other, they are always overcome.

... how poorly do we love even those whom we love most! We are not only bruised by the limitations of their love for us, but also by the limitations of our own love for them.

There is no corner too quiet, or too far away, for a woman to make sorrow in it.

... trouble of all kinds is voluble, and has plenty of words, but happiness was never written down.

Spiritual favors are not always to be looked for, and not always to be relied on.