Genius, in one respect, is like gold; numbers of persons are constantly writing about both, who have neither.

Law and equity are two things which God has joined, but which man has put asunder.

Most of our misfortunes are more supportable than the comments of our friends upon them.

The benevolent have the advantage of the envious, even in this present life; for the envious man is tormented not only by all the ill that befalls himself, but by all the good that happens to another; whereas the benevolent man is the better prepared to bear his own calamities unruffled, from the complacency and serenity he has secured from contemplating the prosperity of all around him.

Times of great calamity and confusion have been productive for the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace. The brightest thunder-bolt is elicited from the darkest storm.

The greatest miracle that the Almighty could perform would be to make a bad man happy, even in heaven; he must unparadise that blessed place to accomplish it. In its primary signification, all vice--that is, all excess--brings its own punishment even here.

There is this of good in real evils; they deliver us, while they last, from the petty despotism of all that were imaginary.