There was no gleam, no shadow, for the heavens, too, were one still, pale cloud; no sound or motion in anything but the dark river that flowed and moaned like an unresting sorrow.

Perhaps the most delightful friendships are those in which there is much agreement, much disputation, and yet more personal liking.

If the past is not to bind us, where can duty lie? We should have no law but the inclination of the moment.

Marriage must be a relation either of sympathy or of conquest.

Solomon's Proverbs, I think, have omitted to say, that as the sore palate findeth grit, so an uneasy consciousness heareth innuendos.

I don't want the world to give me anything for my books except money enough to save me from the temptation to write only for money.

Ah! but the moods lie in his nature, my boy, just as much as his reflections did, and more. A man can never do anything at variance with his own nature. He carries within him the germ of his most exceptional action; and if we wise people make eminent fools of ourselves on any particular occasion, we must endure the legitimate conclusion that we carry a few grains of folly to our ounce of wisdom.