Some one called Sir Richard Steele the "vilest of mankind," and he retorted with proud humility, "It would be a glorious world if I were.

Wit must be without effort. Wit is play, not work; a nimbleness of the fancy, not a laborious effort of the will; a license, a holiday, a carnival of thought and feeling, not a trifling with speech, a constraint upon language, a duress upon words.

He presents me with what is always an acceptable gift who brings me news of a great thought before unknown. He enriches me without impoverishing himself. The judicious quoter, too, helps on what is much needed in the world, a freer circulation of good thoughts, pure feelings, and pleasant fancies.

Genuine religion is matter of feeling rather than matter of opinion.

It is the passion that is in a kiss that gives to it its sweetness; it is the affection in a kiss that sanctifies it.

It is our relation to circumstances that determine their influence over us. The same wind that blows one ship into port may blow another off shore.

It is only an error of judgment to make a mistake, but it argues an infirmity of character to adhere to it when discovered.