The best and most important part of every man's education is that which he gives himself.

A taste for books, which is still the pleasure and glory of my life.

[Courage] arises in a great measure from the consciousness of strength . . .

The Roman government appeared every day less formidable to its enemies, more odious and oppressive to its subjects.

To an active mind, indolence is more painful than labor.

In old age the consolation of hope is reserved for the tenderness of parents, who commence a new life in their children, the faith of enthusiasts, who sing hallelujahs above the clouds; and the vanity of authors, who presume the immortality of their name and writings.

It was the fashion of the times to attribute every remarkable event to the particular will of the Deity; the alterations of nature were connected, by an invisible chain, with the moral and metaphysical opinions of the human mind; and the most sagacious divines could distinguish, according to the colour of their respective prejudices, that the establishment of heresy tended to produce an earthquake, or that a deluge was the inevitable consequence of the progress of sin and error.