The solitary side of our nature demands leisure for reflection upon subjects on which the dash and whirl of daily business, so long as its clouds rise thick about us, forbid the intellect to fasten itself.

A person possessed with an idea cannot be reasoned with.

Wild animals never kill for sport. Man is the only one to whom the torture and death of his fellow creatures is amusing in itself.

Those who seek for something more than happiness in this world must not complain if happiness is not their portion.

As we advance in life, we learn the limits of our abilities.

A single seed of fact will produce in a season or two a harvest of calumnies; but sensible men will pay no attention to them.

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.