Most men appear never to have considered what a house is, and are actually though needlessly poor all their lives because they think that they must have such a one as their neighbors have. ... Shall we always study to obtain more, and not sometimes be content with less?

If you indulge in long periods, you must be sure to have a snapper at the end.

He who cannot exaggerate is not qualified to utter truth.

We should treat our minds, that is, ourselves, as innocent and ingenuous children, whose guardians we are, and be careful what objects and what subjects we thrust on their attention.

Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself.

Duty is one and invariable; it requires no impossibilities, nor can it ever be disregarded with impunity.

Do not seek so anxiously to be developed, to subject yourself to many influences to be played on; it is all dissipation. Humility like darkness reveals the heavenly lights.