Nations are possessed with an insane ambition to perpetuate the memory of themselves by the amount of hammered stone they leave. What if equal pains were taken to smooth and polish their manners?

I feel as if my life had grown more outward when I can express it.

Blessed are they who never read a newspaper, for they shall see Nature, and through her, God.

The civilized man is a more experienced and wiser savage.

I should have liked to come across a large community of pines, which had never been invaded by the lumbering army.

The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men.

Webster never goes behind government, and so cannot speak with authority about it. His words are wisdom to those legislators who contemplate no essential reform in the existing government; but for thinkers, and those who legislate for all time, he never once glances at the subject.... Comparatively, he is always strong, original, and, above all, practical. Still, his quality is not wisdom, but prudence.