Where the citizen uses a mere sliver or board, the pioneer uses the whole trunk of a tree.

The divinity in man is the true vestal fire of the temple which is never permitted to go out, but burns as steadily and with as pure a flame on the obscure provincial altar as in Numa's temple at Rome.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.

You need not rest your reputation on the dinners you give.

A man had better starve at once than lose his innocence in the process of getting his bread.

What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?

We are underbred and low-lived and illiterate; and in this respect I confess I do not make any very broad distinction between theilliterateness of my townsman who cannot read at all and the illiterateness of him who has learned to read only what is for children and feeble intellects. We should be as good as the worthies of antiquity, but partly by first knowing how good they were.