A leveller has long ago been set down as a ridiculous and chimerical being, who, if he could finish his work to-day, would have to begin it again tomorrow.

I'm aiming by the time I'm fifty to stop being an adolescent.

He that studies only men will get the body of knowledge without the soul; and he that studies only books, the soul without the body.

Doubt is the vestibule through which all must pass before they can enter into the temple of wisdom.

Shrewd and crafty politicians, when they wish to bring about an unpopular measure, must not go straight forward to work, if they do they will certainly fail; and failures to men in power, are like defeats to a general, they shake their popularity. Therefore, since they cannot sail in the teeth of the wind, they must tack, and ultimately gain their object, by appearing at times to be departing from it.

Books, like friends, should be few and well chosen. Like friends, too, we should return to them again and again for, like true friends, they will never fail us - never cease to instruct - never cloy.

The science of legislation is like that of medicine in one respect: that it is far more easy to point out what will do harm than what will do good.