Whenever a man reaches the top of the political ladder, his enemies unite to pull him down. His friends become critical and exacting.

Susceptibility to the highest forces is the highest genius.

We combat obstacles in order to get repose, and when got, the repose is insupportable.

The less a tourist knows, the fewer mistakes he need make, for he will not expect himself to explain ignorance.

What a vast fraternity it is,--that of 'Hearts that Ache.' For the last three months it has seemed to me as though all society were coming to me, to drop its mask for a moment and initiate me into the mystery. How we do suffer! And we go on laughing; for, as a practical joke at our expense, life is a success.

Practical politics consists in ignoring facts.

The outline of the city became frantic in its effort to explain something that defied meaning. Power seemed to have outgrown its servitude and to have asserted its freedom. The cylinder had exploded, and thrown great masses of stone and steam against the sky.