Pity that consequences are determined not by excuses but by actions!

But what we strive to gratify, though we may call it a distant hope, is an immediate desire; the future estate for which men drudge up city alleys exists already in their imagination and love.

The beauty of a lovely woman is like music.

He had the superficial kindness of a good-humored, self-satisfied nature, that fears no rivalry, and has encountered no contrarieties.

To have in general but little feeling, seems to be the only security against feeling too much on any particular occasion.

It is the way with half the truth amidst which we live, that it only haunts us and makes dull pulsations that are never born into sound.

If we only look far enough off for the consequence of our actions, we can always find some point in the combination of results by which those actions can be justified: by adopting the point of view of a Providence who arranges results, or of a philosopher who traces them, we shall find it possible to obtain perfect complacency in choosing to do what is most agreeable to us in the present moment.