The constant habit of perusing devout books is so indispensable, that it has been termed the oil of the lamp of prayer. Too much reading, however, and too little meditation, may produce the effect of a lamp inverted; which is extinguished by the very excess of that ailment, whose property is to feed it.

The abuse of terms has at all times been an evil.

Affliction is the school in which great virtues are acquired, in which great characters are formed.

Glory darts her soul-pervading ray on thrones and cottages, regardless still of all the artificial nice distinctions vain human customs make.

A corrupt practice may be abolished, but a soiled imagination is not easily cleansed.

The ingenuity of self-deception is inexhaustible.

If we commit any crime, or do any good here, it must be in thought; for our words are few and our deeds none at all.