A man's liberties are none the less aggressed upon because those who coerce him do so in the belief that he will be benefited.

Opinion is ultimately determined by the feelings, and not by the intellect.

Objects we ardently pursue bring little happiness when gained; most of our pleasures come from unexpected sources.

And yet, strange to say, now that this truth is recognized by most cultivated people — now that the beneficent working of the survival of the fittest has been so impressed on them that, much more than people in past times, they might be expected to hesitate before neutralizing its action — now more than ever before in the history of the world, are they doing all they can to further survival of the unfittest!

There is a story of some mountains of salt in Cumana, which never diminished, though carried away in much abundance by merchants; but when once they were monopolized to the benefit of a private purse, then the salt decreased; till afterward all were allowed to take of it, when it had a new access and increase. The truth of this story may be uncertain, but the application is true; he that envies others the use of his gifts decays then, but he thrives most that is most diffusive.

A function to each organ, and each organ to its own function, is the law of all organization.

Much dearer be the things which come through hard distress.