The thistle is a prince. Let any man that has an eye for beauty take a view of the whole plant, and where will he see a more expressive grace and symmetry; and where is there a more kingly flower?

The elms of New England! They are as much a part of her beauty as the columns of the Parthenon were the glory of its architecture.

There is no liberty to men who know not how to govern themselves.

The soul is a temple; and God is silently building it by night and by day. Precious thoughts are building it; disinterested love is building it; all-penetrating faith is building it.

Brethren, we are all sailing home; and by and by, when we are not thinking of it, some shadowy thing (men call it death), at midnight, will pass by, and will call us by name, and will say, "I have a message for you from home; God wants you; heaven waits for you.

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

It is not the going out of port, but the coming in, that determines the success of a voyage.