The best men are not those who have waited for chances but who have taken them; besieged the chance; conquered the chance; and made chance the servitor.

It is difficult to believe that a true gentleman will ever become a gamester, a libertine, or a sot.

Public feeling now is apt to side with the persecuted, and our modern martyr is full as likely to be smothered with roses as with coals.

All natural results are spontaneous. The diamond sparkles without effort, and the flowers open impulsively beneath the summer rain. And true religion is a spontaneous thing,--as natural as it is to weep, to love, or to rejoice.

Pride is the master sin of the devil, and the devil is the father of lies.

Goodness consists not in the outward things we do, but in the inward thing we are.

Break up the institution of the family, deny the inviolability of its relations, and in a little while there would not be any humanity.