A man without mirth is like wagon without springs, in which one is caused disagreeably to jolt by every pebble over which it turns.

There have been many men who left behind them that which hundreds of years have not worn out. The earth has Socrates and Plato to this day. The world is richer yet by Moses and the old prophets than by the wisest statesmen. We are indebted to the past. We stand in the greatness of ages that are gone rather than in that of our own. But of how many of us shall it be said that, being dead, we yet speak?

Mirthfulness is in the mind and you cannot get it out. It is just as good in its place as conscience or veneration.

A house built on sand is, in fair weather, just as good as if builded on a rock. A cobweb is as good as the mightiest chain cable when there is no strain on it. It is trial that proves one thing weak and another strong.

The more sincere we are in our belief, as a rule, the less demonstrative we are.

Laws and institutions, like clocks, must occasionally be cleaned, wound up, and set to true time.

It is the color which love wears, and cheerfulness, and joy--these three. It is the light in the window of the face by which the heart signifies to father, husband, or friend that it is at home and waiting.