The worst thing that can be said of the most powerful is that they can take your life; but the same can be said of the most weak.

We injure mysteries, which are matters of faith, by any attempt at explanation in order to make them matters of reason. Could they be explained, they would cease to be mysteries; and it has been well said that a thing is not necessarily against reason because it happens to be above it.

It is astonishing how much more people are interested in lengthening life than improving it.

Pedantry crams our heads with learned lumber and takes out our brains to make room for it.

It is far more easy to acquire a fortune like a knave, than to expend it, like a gentleman.

Make the most of the day, by determining to spend it on two sorts of acquaintances only--those by whom something may be got, and those from whom something may be learned.

Eloquence is the language of nature, and cannot be learned in the schools; but rhetoric is the creature of art, which he who feels least will most excel in.