For whence did Dante take the materials for his hell but from this our actual world? And yet he made a very proper hell of it.

Life to the great majority is only a constant struggle for mere existence, with the certainty of losing it at last.

I've never known any trouble than an hour's reading didn't assuage.

Genuine contempt, on the other hand, is the unsullied conviction of the worthlessness of another.

It is a wise thing to be polite; consequently, it is a stupid thing to be rude. To make enemies by unnecessary and willful incivility, is just as insane a proceeding as to set your house on fire. For politeness is like a counter--an avowedly false coin, with which it is foolish to be stingy.

It often happens that we blurt out things that may in some kind of way be harmful to us, but we are silent about things that may make us look ridiculous; because in this case effect follows very quickly on cause.

Every child is in a way a genius; and every genius is in a way a child.