The news we hear, for the most part, is not news to our genius. It is the stalest repetition.

The virtue which we appreciate, we to some extent appropriate.

I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who have understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks,-who had a genius, so to speak, for sauntering.

This American government - what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its integrity? It has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man can bend it to his will.

What old people say you cannot do, you try and find that you can. Old deeds for old people, and new deeds for new.

The words which express our faith and piety are not definite; yet they are significant and fragrant like frankincense to superior natures.

I found in myself, and still find, an instinct toward a higher, or, as it is named, spiritual life, as do most men, and another toward a primitive rank and savage one, and I reverence them both. I love the wild not less than the good.