There surely is in human nature an inherent propensity to extract all the good out of all the evil.

Mistrusts sometimes come over one's mind of the justice of God. But let a real misery come again, and to whom do we fly? To whom do we instinctively and immediately look up?

Never let your love for your profession overshadow your religious feeling. Depend on it that religion will strengthen, not weaken, your energies, and will not only make you a better sailor, but a superior man. Professional studies are not to be neglected; but, on the other hand, take care how you fall into the common error of believing they are the remedy for all the ills of life.

Invention is totally independent of the will.

Danger is the very basis of superstition. It produces a searching after help supernaturally when human means are no longer supposed to be available.

The greatest geniuses have always attributed everything to God, as if conscious of being possessed of a spark of His divinity.

Beware of the beginnings of vice. Do not delude yourself with the belief that it can be argued against in the presence of the exciting cause. Nothing but actual flight can save you.