A true teacher should penetrate to whatever is vital in his pupil, and develop that by the light and heat of his own intelligence.

A composition which dazzles at first sight by gaudy epithets, or brilliant turns or expression, or glittering trains of imagery, may fade gradually from the mind, leaving no enduring impression; but words which flow fresh and warm from a full heart, and which are instinct with the life and breath of human feeling, pass into household memories, and partake of the immortality of the affections from which they spring.

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

A politician weakly and amiably in the right, is no match for a politician tenaciously and pugnaciously in the wrong.

The saddest failures in life are those that come from not putting forth the power and will to succeed.

Talent is full of thoughts, Genius is thought. Talent is a cistern, Genius a fountain.

The contemplation of beauty in nature, in art, in literature, in human character, diffuses through our being a soothing and subtle joy, by which the heart's anxious and aching cares are softly smiled away.