Dogmas of every kind put assertion in the place of reason and give rise to more contention, bitterness, and want of charity than any other influence in human affairs.

The ways of fate are indeed hard to understand. If there is not some compensation hereafter, then the world is a cruel jest.

Life, it turns out, is infinitely more clever and adaptable than anyone had ever supposed.

There is no scent so pleasant to my nostrils as that faint, subtle reek which comes from an ancient book.

Nature is the true revelation of the Deity to man. The nearest green field is the inspired page from which you may read all that it is needful for you to know.

No man burdens his mind with small matters unless he has some very good reason for doing so.

It is horrible, yet fascinating, this struggle between a set purpose and an utterly exhausted frame.