A public debt is a kind of anchor in the storm; but if the anchor be too heavy for the vessel, she will be sunk by that very weight which was intended for her preservation.

The brightest thunder-bolt is elicited from the darkest storm.

Physical courage, which despises all danger, will make a man brave in one way; and moral courage, which despises all opinion, will make a man brave in another.

Nobility of birth does not always insure a corresponding unity of mind; if it did, it would always act as a stimulus to noble actions; but it sometimes acts as a clog rather than a spur.

To despise our own species is the price we must often pay for knowledge of it.

Never join with your friend when he abuses his horse or his wife, unless the one is about to be sold, the other to be buried.

Deliberate with caution, but act with decision and yield with graciousness, or oppose with firmness.