Every Englishman believes that Handel now occupies an important position in heaven. If so, le bon Dieu must feel toward him very much as Louis Treize felt toward Richelieu.

The practical question, then, is what to do with the children. Tolerate them at home we will not. Let them run loose in the streets we dare not until our streets become safe places for children, which, to our utter shame, they are not at present, though they can hardly be worse than some homes and some schools.

The pianoforte is the most important of all musical instruments; its invention was to music what the invention of printing was to poetry.

Liberty is the breath of life to nations.

All progress means war with society.

The philosopher is Nature's pilot. And there you have our difference: to be in hell is to drift: to be in heaven is to steer.

God's trustiest lieutenants often lack official credentials. They may be professed atheists who are also men of honour and high public spirit.