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

The superstition of science scoffs at the superstition of faith.

Nature is less partial than she appears, and all situations in life have their compensations along with them.

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

To be happy is not the purpose for which you are placed in this world.

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.

The endurance of the inequalities of life by the poor is the marvel of human society.