The greatness of action includes immoral as well as moral greatness--Cortes and Napoleon, as well as Luther and Washington.

The very large, very respectable, and very knowing class of misanthropes who rejoice in the name of grumblers,--persons who are so sure that the world is going to ruin, that they resent every attempt to comfort them as an insult to their sagacity, and accordingly seek their chief consolation in being inconsolable, their chief pleasure in being displeased.

Books -lighthouses erected in the great sea of time -books, the precious depositories of the thoughts and creations of genius -books, by whose sorcery times past become time present, and the whole pageantry of the world's history moves in solemn procession before our eyes, -these were to visit the firesides of the humble and lavish the treasures of the intellect upon the poor.

There is a serious and resolute egotism that makes a man interesting to his friends and formidable to his opponents.

What does competency in the long run mean? It means to all reasonable beings, cleanliness of person, decency of dress, courtesy of manners, opportunities for education, the delights of leisure, and the bliss of giving.

In activity we must find our joy as well as glory; and labor, like everything else that is good, is its own reward.

God is glorified, not by our groans, but by our thanksgivings.