All deep, earnest thinking is but the intrepid effort of the soul to keep the open independence of her sea, while the wildest winds of heaven and earth conspire to cast her on the treacherous, slavish shore.

Praise when merited is not a boon: yet to a generous nature, is it pleasant to utter it.

There never was a great man yet who spent all his life inland.

One would like to know, what were foes made for except to be used?

No philosophers so thoroughly comprehend us as dogs and horses.

Truth is ever incoherent, and when the big hearts strike together, the concussion is a little stunning.

There is a wisdom that is woe; but there is a woe that is madness. And there is a Catskill eagle in some souls that can alike dive down into the blackest gorges, and soar out of them again and become invisible in the sunny spaces. And even if he for ever flies within the gorge, that gorge is in the mountains; so that even in his lowest swoop the mountain eagle is still higher than other birds upon the plain, even though they soar.