It was prettily devised of Aesop, The fly sat on the axle tree of the chariot wheel and said, what dust do I raise!

In every great time there is some one idea at work which is more powerful than any other, and which shapes the events of the time and determines their ultimate issues.

Generally he perceived in men of devout simplicity this opinion: that the secrets of nature were the secrets of God, part of that glory into which man is not to press too boldly.

A good name is like precious ointment ; it filleth all round about, and will not easily away; for the odors of ointments are more durable than those of flowers.

Certainly the best works, and of greatest merit for the public, have proceeded from the unmarried, or childless men.

The men of experiment are like the ant, they only collect and use; the reasoners resemble spiders, who make cobwebs out of their own substance. But the bee takes the middle course, it gathers its material from the flowers of the garden and field, but transforms and digests it by a power of its own.

Men on their side must force themselves for a while to lay their notions by and begin to familiarize themselves with facts.