A talent somewhat above mediocrity, shrewd and not too sensitive, is more likely to rise in the world than genius.

Kindliness seems to exist primarily as an animal instinct, so deeply rooted that mental degeneracy, which works from the top down,does not destroy it until the mind sinks to the lower grades of idiocy.

Failure sometimes enlarges the spirit. You have to fall back upon humanity and God.

There is no way to penetrate the surface of life but by attacking it earnestly at a particular point.

The chief misery of the decline of the faculties, and a main cause of the irritability that often goes with it, is evidently the isolation, the lack of customary appreciation and influence, which only the rarest tact and thoughtfulness on the part of others can alleviate.

The bashful are always aggressive at heart.

A strange and somewhat impassive physiognomy is often, perhaps, an advantage to an orator, or leader of any sort, because it helps to fix the eye and fascinate the mind.