Plurality which is not reduced to unity is confusion; unity which does not depend on plurality is tyranny.

Thought makes the whole dignity of man; therefore endeavor to think well, that is the only morality.

Justice is what is established; and thus all our established laws will necessarily be regarded as just without examination, since they are established.

The gospel to me is simply irresistible.

Since we cannot be universal and know all that is to be known of everything, we ought to know a little about everything. For it is far better to know something about everything than to know all about one thing. This universality is the best. If we can have both, still better; but if we must choose, we ought to choose the former.

Let us, then, take our compass; we are something, and we are not everything. The nature of our existence hides from us the knowledge of first beginnings which are born of the nothing; and the littleness of our being conceals from us the sight of the infinite. Our intellect holds the same position in the world of thought as our body occupies in the expanse of nature.

The serene, silent beauty of a holy life is the most powerful influence in the world, next to the night of God.