We gain nothing by being with such as ourselves. We encourage one another in mediocrity. I am always longing to be with men more excellent than myself.

I hate a man who swallows [his food], affecting not to know what he is eating. I suspect his taste in higher matters.

I am in love with this green Earth.

The good things of life are not to be had singly, but come to us with a mixture; like a school-boy's holiday, with a task affixed to the tail of it.

The trumpet does not more stun you by its loudness, than a whisper teases you by its provoking inaudibility.

You may derive thoughts from others; your way of thinking, the mould in which your thoughts are cast, must be your own.

Gluttony and surfeiting are no proper occasions for thanksgiving.