Through persistence numerous individuals win accomplishment out of what appeared bound to be sure disappointment.

You asked me where I generally lived. In my workshop [i.e. in his study] in the mornings and always in the library in the evening. Books are companions even if you don’t open them.

There are so many plans, so many schemes, and so many reasons why there should be neither plans nor schemes.

Those authors who appear sometimes to forget they are writers, and remember they are men, will be our favorites.

Whenever you see a man who is successful in society, try to discover what makes him pleasing, and if possible adopt his system.

Consider Ireland.... You have a starving population, an absentee aristocracy, and an alien Church, and in addition the weakest executive in the world. That is the Irish Question.

It has been said that the people of this country are deeply interested in the humanitarian and philanthropic considerations involved in [the Eastern Question]. All must appreciate such feelings. But I am mistaken if there be not a yet deeper sentiment on the part of the people of this country, one with which I cannot doubt your lordships will ever sympathise, and that is - the determination to maintain the Empire of England.