The good opinion of our fellow men is the strongest, though not the purest motive to virtue.

The praise of the envious is far less creditable than their censure; they praise only that which they can surpass, but that which surpasses them they censure.

Bigotry murders religion to frighten fools with her ghost.

We should choose our books as we would our companions, for their sterling and intrinsic merit.

Men pursue riches under the idea that their possession will set them at ease, and above the world. But the law of association often makes those who begin by loving gold as a servant finish by becoming themselves its slaves; and independence without wealth is at least as common as wealth without independence.

Wealth after all is a relative thing since he that has little and wants less is richer than he that has much and wants more.

The greatest and most amiable privilege which the rich enjoy over the poor is that which they exercise the least--the privilege of making others happy.