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.

It is not every man that can afford to wear a shabby coat; and worldly wisdom dictates to her disciples the propriety of dressing somewhat beyond their means, but of living somewhat within them,--for every one, sees how we dress, but none see how we live, except we choose to let them. But the truly great are, by universal suffrage, exempted from these trammels, an may live or dress as they please.

It is a mistake, that a lust for power is the mark of a great mind; for even the weakest have been captivated by it; and for minds of the highest order, it has no charms.

Falsehood is often rocked by truth, but she soon outgrows her cradle and discards her nurse.

Were we as eloquent as angels we still would please people much more by listening rather than talking.

Posthumous charities are the very essence of selfishness when bequeathed by those who, even alive, would part with nothing.

Heroism, self-denial, and magnanimity, in all instances where they do not spring from a principle of religion, are but splendid altars on which we sacrifice one kind of self-love to another.