Those graces which from their presumed facility encourage all to attempt an imitation of them, are usually the most inimitable.

Riches may enable us to confer favors, but to confer them with propriety and grace requires a something that riches cannot give.

Few things are more agreeable to self-love than revenge, and yet no cause so effectually restrains us from revenge as self-love. And this paradox naturally suggests another; that the strength of the community is not unfrequently built upon the weakness of those individuals that compose it.

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

Anguish of mind has driven thousands to suicide; anguish of body, none. This proves that the health of the mind is of far more consequence to our happiness than the health of the body, although both are deserving of much more attention than either of them receive.

Sturdy beggars can bear stout denials.

When the frustration of my helplessness seemed greatest, I discovered God's grace was more than sufficient. And after my imprisonment, I could look back and see how God used my powerlessness for His purpose. What He has chosen for my most significant witness was not my triumphs or victories, but my defeat.