Of all the inventions of man I doubt whether any was more easily accomplished than that of a Heaven.

Nothing makes one old so quickly as the ever-present thought that one is growing older.

Just as we outgrow a pair of trousers, we outgrow acquaintances, libraries, principles, etc., at times before they're worn out and times - and this is the worst of all - before we have new ones.

The ordinary man is ruined by the flesh lusting against the spirit; the scholar by the spirit lusting too much against the flesh.

With most men, unbelief in one thing springs from blind belief in another.

Many intelligent people, when about to write . . . , force on their minds a certain notion about style, just as they screw up their faces when they sit for their portraits.

How did mankind ever come by the idea of liberty? What a grand thought it was!