Folly is like the growth of weeds, always luxurious and spontaneous; wisdom, like flowers, requires cultivation.

Honest and courageous people have very little to say about either their courage or their honesty. The sun has no need to boast of his brightness, nor the moon of her effulgence.

It is the nature of intellect to strive to improve in intellectual power.

It is better to be the builder of our own name than to be indebted by descent for the proudest gifts known to the books of heraldry.

It is in sickness that we most feel the need of that sympathy which shows how much we are dependent upon one another for our comfort, and even necessities. Thus disease, opening our eyes to the realities of life, is an indirect blessing.

A true religious instinct never deprived man of one single joy; mournful faces and a sombre aspect are the conventional affectations of the weak-minded.

Doubt is the incentive to truth and inquiry leads the way.