An appearance of delicacy, and even fragility, is almost essential to beauty.

Nothing, indeed, but the possession of some power can with any certainty discover what at the bottom is the true character of any man.

There is America, which at this day serves for little more than to amuse you with stories of savage men and uncouth manners, yet shall, before you taste of death, show itself equal to the whole of that commerce which now attracts the envy of the world.

Freedom without virtue is not freedom but license to pursue whatever passions prevail in the intemperate mind; man's right to freedom being in exact proportion to his willingness to put chains upon his own appetites; the less restraint from within, the more must be imposed from without.

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.

Spain: A whale stranded upon the coast of Europe.

Greater mischief happens often from folly, meanness, and vanity than from the greater sins of avarice and ambition.