I delight to come to my bearings,... not to live in this restless, nervous, bustling, trivial Nineteenth Century, but stand or sitthoughtfully while it goes by.

The broadest and most prevalent error requires the most disinterested virtue to sustain it.

You may raise enough money to tunnel a mountain, but you cannot raise money enough to hire a man who is minding his own business.

The rich man is always sold to the institution which makes him rich. Absolutely speaking, the more money, the less virtue.

Genius is not a retainer to any emperor.

f the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go; perchance it will wear smooth - certainly the machine will wear out... but if it is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter-friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn.

Any sincere thought is irresistible.