[French] authors are more afraid of offending delicacy and rules, than ambitious of sublimity.

[King René of Anjou (1409-80)] would not listen to the news of his son having lost the Kingdom of Naples, because he would not bedisturbed when painting a picture of a partridge.

The whole secret of life is to be interested in one thing profoundly and in a thousand things well.

An ancient prophecy ... pronounced, That the castle and lordship of Otranto should pass from the present family, whenever the real owner should be grown too large to inhabit it!

The Methodists love your big sinners, as proper subjects to work upon.

The way to ensure summer in England is to have it framed and glazed in a comfortable room.

The best sun we have is made of Newcastle coal, and I am determined never to reckon upon any other.