The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.

He who parades his virtues seldom leads the parade. He who puts up with insult invites injury. Health requires this relaxation, this aimless life. This life in the present.

Though the words Canada East on the map stretch over many rivers and lakes and unexplored wildernesses, the actual Canada, which might be the colored portion of the map, is but a little clearing on the banks of the river, which one of those syllables would more than cover.

Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.

Books that are books are all that you want, and there are but a half dozen in any thousand.

Only what is thought, said, or done at a certain rare coincidence is good.

I do not know where to find in any literature, whether ancient or modern, any adequate account of that Nature with which I am acquainted.