The fire of my adversity has purged the mass of my acquaintance.

There is so much trouble in coming into the world, and so much more, as well as meanness, in going out of it, that it is hardly worth while to be here at all.

The confirmed prejudices of a thoughtful life are as hard to change as the confirmed habits of an indolent life; and as some must trifle away age because they trifled away youth, others must labor on in a maze of error because they have wandered there too long to find their way out.

Our liberty cannot be taken away unless the people are themselves accomplices.

A long novitiate of acquaintance should precede the vows of friendship.

It is the modest, not the presumptuous, inquirer who makes a real and safe progress in the discovery of divine truths. One follows Nature and Nature's God; that is, he follows God in his works and in his word.

The fire of my adversity has purged the mass of my acquaintance.