... it is seldom a medical man has true religious views--there is too much pride of intellect.

The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men.

It is better sometimes not to follow great reformers of abuses beyond the threshold of their homes.

Gossip is a sort of smoke that comes from the dirty tobacco-pipes of those who diffuse it: it proves nothing but the bad taste of the smoker.

It so often happens that others are measuring us by our past self while we are looking back on that self with a mixture of disgust and sorrow.

... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.

Childhood is only the beautiful and happy time in contemplation and retrospect: to the child it is full of deep sorrows, the meaning of which is unknown.