It has done me good to be somewhat parched by the heat and drenched by the rain of life.

Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast, that however high we reach we are never satisfied.

The day is dark and cold and dreary; it rains, and the wind is never weary.

Talk not of wasted affection, affection never was wasted; If it enrich not the heart of another, its waters, returning Back to their springs, like the rain, shall fill them full of refreshment; That which the fountain sends forth returns again to the fountain.

Men should soon make up their minds to be forgotten, and look about them, or within them, for some higher motive in what they do than the approbation of men, which is fame, namely, their duty; that they should be constantly and quietly at work, each in his sphere, regardless of effects, and leaving their fame to take care of itself.

The Nile, forever new and old, Among the living and the dead, Its mighty, mystic stream has rolled.

Simplicity is the character of the spring of life, costliness becomes its autumn; but a neatness and purity, like that of the snow-drop or lily of the valley, is the peculiar fascination of beauty, to which it lends enchantment, and gives what amiability is to the mind.