Poetry is the art of substantiating shadows, and of lending existence to nothing.

Applause is the spur of noble minds, the end and aim of weak ones.

Ambition can creep as well as soar.

War never leaves where it found a nation.

To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.

True humility-the basis of the Christian system-is the low but deep and firm foundation of all virtues.

The science of constructing a commonwealth, or renovating it, or reforming it, is, like every other experimental science, not to be taught a priori. Nor is it a short experience that can instruct us in that practical science, because the real effects of moral causes are not always immediate.