Debt is to man what the serpent is to the bird; its eye fascinates, its breath poisons, its coil crushes sinew and bone, its jaw is the pitiless grave.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron LyttonHe who sees his heir in his own child, carries his eye over hopes and possessions lying far beyond his gravestone, viewing his life, even here, as a period but closed with a comma. He who sees his heir in another man's child sees the full stop at the end of the sentence.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron LyttonStrive, while improving your one talent, to enrich your whole capital as a man. It is in this way that you escape from the wretched narrow-mindedness which is the characteristic of every one who cultivates his specialty alone.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron LyttonThe fewer blows, the better. Brave men fight if they must; wise men never fight if they can help it.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton