Alas! What is man? Whether he be deprived of that light which is from on high, of whether he discard it, a frail and trembling creature; standing on time, that bleak and narrow isthmus between two eternities, he sees nothing but impenetrable darkness on the one hand, and doubt, distrust, and conjecture, still more perplexing, on the other. Most gladly would he take an observation, as to whence he has come, or whither he is going; alas, he has not the means: his telescope is too dim, his compass too wavering, his plummet too short.

When you have nothing to say, say nothing; a weak defense strengthens your opponent, and silence is less injurious than a bad reply.

Courage is generosity of the highest order, for the brave are prodigal of the most precious things.

In politics, as in religion, it so happens, that we have less charity for those who believe the half of our creed, than for those that deny the whole of it; since if Servetus had been a Mohammedan, he would not have been burnt by Calvin.

That extremes beget extremes is an apothegm built on the most profound observation of the human mind.

The three great apostles of practical atheism, that make converts without persecuting, and retain them without preaching, are wealth, health and power.

It is always easy to shut a book, but not quite so easy to get rid of a lettered coxcomb.