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

Religion is among the most powerful causes of enthusiasm.

There is a wide difference between admiration and love. The sublime, which is the cause of the former, always dwells on great objects and terrible; the latter on small ones and pleasing; we submit to what we admire, but we love what submits to us: in one case we are forced, in the other, we are flattered, into compliance.

Whenever our neighbour's house is on fire, it cannot be amiss for the engines to play a little on our own.

True religion is the foundation of society. When that is once shaken by contempt, the whole fabric cannot be stable nor lasting.

But a good patriot, and a true politician, always considers how he shall make the most of the existing materials of his country. A disposition, to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman. Everything else is vulgar in the conception, perilous in the execution.

Taxing is an easy business. Any projector can contrive new compositions, any bungler can add to the old.