Two things, well considered, would prevent many quarrels: first, to have it well ascertained whether we are not disputing about terms, rather than things; and, secondly, to examine whether that on which we differ is worth contending about.

The society of dead authors has this advantage over that of the living: they never flatter us to our faces, nor slander us behind our backs, nor intrude upon our privacy, nor quit their shelves until we take them down.

We should have a glorious conflagration, if all who cannot put fire into their works would only consent to put their works into the fire.

If you would be known, and not know, vegetate in a village; if you would know, and not be known, live in a city.

The study of mathematics, like the Nile, begins in minuteness but ends in magnificence.

He that has energy enough to root out a vice should go further, and try to plant a virtue in its place.

Constant success shows us but one side of the world; adversity brings out the reverse of the picture.