it is more to my personal happiness and advantage to indulge the love and admiration of excellence, than to cherish a secret envy of it.

I always wish to find great virtues where there are great talents, and to love what I admire.

Few people know anything of the English history but what they learn from Shakespear; for our story is rather a tissue of personal adventures and catastrophes than a series of political events.

You will find many a creature by earth, air, and water, that is more beautiful than a woman.

I endeavor to be wise when I cannot be merry, easy when I cannot be glad, content with what cannot be mended, and patient when there be no redress.

Any wife will save you from purgatory, and a diligent one will secure heaven to you.

To judge therefore of Shakespeare by Aristotle's rule is like trying a man by the Laws of one Country who acted under those of another.