In how few words, for instance, the Greeks would have told the story of Abelard and Heloise, making but a sentence of our classical dictionary.... We moderns, on the other hand, collect only the raw materials of biography and history, "memoirs to serve for a history," which is but materials to serve for a mythology.

One revelation has been made to the Indian, another to the white man.

The true finish is the work of time, and the use to which a thing is put. The elements are still polishing the pyramids.

To the man who cherishes a secret in his breast, there is a still greater secret unexplored. Our most indifferent acts may be a matter for secrecy, but whatever we do with the utmost truthfulness and integrity, by virtue of its pureness, must be transparent as light.

The outward is only the outside of that which is within. Men are not concealed under habits, but are revealed by them; they are their true clothes.

A man may travel fast enough and earn his living on the road.

It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.