Originality is independence, not rebellion; it is sincerity, not antagonism.

Books minister to our knowledge, to our guidance, and to our delight, by their truth, their uprightness, and their art.

Many a genius has been slow of growth. Oaks that flourish for a thousand years do not spring up into beauty like a reed.

In complex trains of thought signs are indispensable.

A man may be buoyed up by the efflation of his wild desires to brave any imaginable peril; but he cannot calmly see one he loves braving the same peril; simply because he cannot feel within turn that which prompts another. He sees the danger, and feels not the power that is to overcome it.

Every one who has seriously investigated a novel question, who has really interrogated Nature with a view to a distinct answer, will bear me out in saying that it requires intense and sustained effort of imagination.

All bad Literature rests upon imperfect insight, or upon imitation, which may be defined as seeing at second-hand.