Success is a poison that should only be taken late in life and then only in small doses.

Men who can succeed in deceiving no one else, will succeed at last in deceiving themselves.

I have no ambition to surprise my reader. Castles with unknown passages are not compatible with my homely muse.

High rank and soft manners may not always belong to a true heart.

Marvelous is the power which can be exercised, almost unconsciously, over a company, or an individual, or even upon a crowd by one person gifted with good temper, good digestion, good intellects, and good looks.

I hold that gentleman to be the best-dressed whose dress no one observes.

That I can read and be happy while I am reading, is a great blessing. Could I have remembered, as some men do, what I read, I should have been able to call myself an educated man. But that power I have never possessed. Something is always left--something dim and inaccurate--but still something sufficient to preserve the taste for more. I am inclined to think that it is so with most readers.