Vanity, indeed, is the very antidote to conceit; for while the former makes us all nerve to the opinion of others, the latter is perfectly satisfied with its opinion of itself.

Man only of all earthly creatures, asks, Can the dead die forever? - and the instinct that urges the question is God's answer to man, for no instinct is given in vain.

Thought is valuable in proportion as it is generative.

To dispense with ceremony is the most delicate mode of conferring a compliment.

Happiness and virtue rest upon each other; the best are not only the happiest, but the happiest are usually the best.

Revenge is a common passion; it is the sin of the uninstructed. The savage deems it noble;but the religion of Christ, which is the sublime civilizer, emphatically condemns it. Why? Because religion ever seeks to ennoble man; and nothing so debases him as revenge.

Two lives that once part are as ships that divide.