The essence of true nobility is neglect of self. Let the thought of self pass in, and the beauty of a great action is gone, like the bloom from a soiled flower.

The essence of greatness is neglect of the self.

Where nature is sovereign, there is no need of austerity and self-denial.

Just laws are no restraint upon the freedom of the good, for the good man desires nothing which a just law will interfere with.

Ignorance is the dominion of absurdity.

The best that we can do for one another is to exchange our thoughts freely; and that, after all, is about all.

In every department of life--in its business and in its pleasures, in its beliefs and in its theories, in its material developments and in its spiritual connections--we thank God that we are not like our fathers.