Water and oil, simply considered, are capable of giving some pleasure to the taste. Water, when simple, is insipid, inodorous, colorless, and smooth; it is found, when not cold, to be a great resolver of spasms, and lubricator of the fibres; this power it probably owes to its smoothness.

The first and simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, is curiosity.

To tax and to please, no more than to love and to be wise, is not given to men.

By gnawing through a dike, even a rat may drown a nation.

Never, no never, did Nature say one thing, and wisdom another.

Wars are just to those to whom they are necessary.

Our patience will achieve more than our force.