Of human life, the most glorious or humble prospects are alike and soon bounded by the sepulchre.

Let us read with method, and propose to ourselves an end to which our studies may point. The use of reading is to aid us in thinking.

In the productions of the mind, as in those of the soil, the gifts of nature are excelled by industry and skill . . .

The spectator and historian of [Belisarius's] exploits has observed, that amidst the perils of war, he was daring without rashness, prudent without fear, slow or rapid according to the exigencies of the moment; that in the deepest distress he was animated by real or apparent hope, but that he was modest and humble in the most prosperous fortune.

I sighed as a lover, I obeyed as a son.

The progress of despotism tends to disappoint its own purpose.

I have somewhere heard or read the frank confession of a Benedictine abbot: "My vow of poverty has given me a hundred thousand crowns a year; my vow of obedience has raised me to the rank of a sovereign prince." - I forget the consequences of his vow of chastity.