All sound heard at the greatest possible distance produces one and the same effect, a vibration of the universal lyre, just as the intervening atmosphere makes a distant ridge of earth interesting to our eyes by the azure tint it imparts to it.

Mathematics should be mixed not only with physics but with ethics.

Some poems are for holidays only. They are polished and sweet, but it is the sweetness of sugar, and not such as toil gives to sour bread. The breath with which the poet utters his verse must be that by which he lives.

Morning glory is the best name, it always refreshes me to see it.

All the events which make the annals of the nations are but the shadows of our private experiences.

We communicate like the burrows of foxes, in silence and darkness, under ground. We are undermined by faith and love.

That so many are ready to live by luck, and so get the means of commanding the labor of others less lucky, without contributing any value to society! And that is called enterprise! I know of no more startling development of the immorality of trade, and all the common modes of getting a living.