Deliberate long before thou consecrate a friend, and when thy impartial justice concludes him worthy of thy bosom, receive him joyfully, and entertain him wisely; impart thy secrets boldly, and mingle thy thoughts with his: he is thy very self; and use him so; if thou firmly think him faithful, thou makest him so.

Think not thy love to God merits God's love to thee; His acceptance of thy duty crowns His own gifts in thee; man's love to God is nothing but a faint reflection of God's love to man.

If virtue accompany it, it is the heart's paradise; if vice associate it, it is the soul's purgatory.

In thy apparel avoid singularity, profuseness, and gaudiness. Be not too early in the fashion, nor too late. Decency is half way between affectation and neglect. The body is the shell of the soul, apparel is the husk of that shell; the husk often tells you what the kernel is.

No labor is hard, no time is long, wherein the glory of eternity is the mark we level at.

It is no happiness to live long, nor unhappiness to die soon; happy is he that hath lived long enough to die well.

He that gives all, though but little, gives much; because God looks not to the quantity of the gift, but to the quality of the givers.