You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.

Of all the evil spirits abroad at this hour in the world, insincerity is the most dangerous.

But the world was also so constructed, owing to the nature of the Maker of it, that superior strength was found in the long run to lie with those who had the right on their side.

Fear is the parent of cruelty.

Philosophy goes no further than probabilities, and in every assertion keeps a doubt in reserve.

The practical effect of a belief is the real test of its soundness. Where we find a heroic life appearing as the uniform fruit of a particular mode of opinion, it is childish to argue in the face of fact that the result ought to have been different.

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