The age does not believe in great men, because it does not possess any.

Fame and power are the objects of all men. Even their partial fruition is gained by very few; and that, too, at the expense of social pleasure, health, conscience, life.

What Art was to the ancient world, Science is to the modern: the distinctive faculty. In the minds of men the useful has succeeded to the beautiful. Instead of the city of the Violet Crown, a Lancashire village has expanded into a mighty region of factories and warehouses. Yet, rightly understood, Manchester is as great a human exploit; as Athens.

Eloquence is the child of knowledge. When a mind is full, like a wholesome river, it is also clear.

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.

The constitution of England is not a paper constitution. It is an aggregate of institutions, many of them founded merely upon prescription, some of them fortified by muniments, but all of them the fruit and experience of an ancient and illustrious people.

We should never lose an occasion. Opportunity is more powerful even than conquerors and prophets.