There will always be romance in the world so long as there are young hearts in it.

No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities.

Dishonest people conceal their faults from themselves as well as others, honest people know and confess them.

Without death in the world, existence in it would soon become, through over-population, the most frightful of curses.

Out of politics comes more uproar than progress. It is indeed surprising how little, comparatively, this noisy department of human affairs contributes to the world's prosperity. Political commotions upon the grandest scale, political events of astounding suddenness, political characters of the greatest ability, abound, but still, permanent results are rare, and we look in vain for a measure of public good corresponding in extent to the hideous rout which ushers it in. Progress but turns upon its pillow, and goes to sleep again.

To quote copiously and well, requires taste, judgment, and erudition, a feeling for the beautiful, an appreciation of the noble, and a sense of the profound.

It is of very little use in trying to be dignified, if dignity is no part of your character.