The spirit of sarcasm lives and thrives in the midst of universal wreck; its balls are enchanted and itself invulnerable, and it braves retaliations and reprisals because itself is a mere flash, a bodiless and magical nothing.

The test of every religious, political, or educational system is the man that it forms.

Time wasted is a theft from God.

Before giving advice we must have secured its acceptance, or, rather, have made it desired.

A thousand things advance; nine hundred and ninety nine retreat; That is progress.

Our duty is to be useful, not according to our desires but according to our powers.

Mutual respect implies discretion and reserve even in love itself; it means preserving as much liberty as possible to those whose life we share. We must distrust our instinct of intervention, for the desire to make one's own will prevail is often disguised under the mask of solicitude.