Accustom yourself to submit on all and every occasion, and on the most minute, no less than on the most important circumstances of life, to a small present evil, to obtain a greater distant good. This will give decision, tone, and energy to the mind, which, thus disciplined, will often reap victory from defeat and honor from repulse.

The man of pleasure, by a vain attempt to be more happy than any man can be, is often more miserable than most men are.

It may be observed of good writing, as of good blood, that it is much easier to say what it is composed of than to compose it.

As the gout seems privileged to attack the bodies of the wealthy, so ennui seems to exert a similar prerogative over their minds.

Posthumous fame is a plant of tardy growth, for our body must be the seed of it; or we may liken it to a torch, which nothing but the last spark of life can light up; or we may compare it to the trumpet of the archangel, for it is blown over the dead; but unlike that awful blast, it is of earth, not of heaven, and can neither rouse nor raise us.

If a cause be good, the most violent attack of its enemies will not injure it so much as an injudicious defence of it by its friends.

Some reputed saints that have been canonized ought to have been cannonaded.