Wars are to the body politic, what drams are to the individual. There are times when they may prevent a sudden death, but if frequently resorted to, or long persisted in, they heighten the energies only to hasten the dissolution.

To know a man, observe how he wins his object, rather than how he loses it; for when we fail, our pride supports us - when we succeed, it betrays us.

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.

Ignorance is a blank sheet, on which we may write; but error is a scribbled one, on which we must first erase.

Expect not praise without envy until you are dead.

Slight sorrow for sin is sufficient, provided it at the same time produces amendment.

We cannot think too highly of our nature, nor too humbly of ourselves.