Great men, unknown to their generation, have their fame among the great who have preceded them, and all true worldly fame subsides from their high estimate beyond the stars.

The boatmen appeared to lead an easy and contented life, and we thought that we should prefer their employment ourselves to many professions which are much more sought after. They suggested how few circumstances are necessary to the well-being and serenity of man, how indifferent all employments are, and that any may seem noble and poetic to the eyes of men, if pursued with sufficient buoyancy and freedom.

The greatest and saddest defect is not credulity, but an habitual forgetfulness that our science is ignorance.

The highest law gives a thing to him who can use it.

The slight reproach to which the virtue of patriotism is commonly liable, the noble are most likely to incur.

The only government that I recognize--and it matters not how few are at the head of it, or how small its army--is that power thatestablishes justice in the land, never that which establishes injustice.

Truth strikes us from behind and in the dark, as well as from before and in broad daylight.