The Providence that watches over the affairs of men works out of their mistakes, at times, a healthier issue than could have been accomplished by their wisest forethought.

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

We must have the real thing before we can have a science of a thing.

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.

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.

If you think you can temper yourself into manliness by sitting here over your books, it is the very silliest fancy that ever tempted a young man to his ruin. You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.