There are epidemics of nobleness as well as epidemics of disease.

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

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

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.

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.

Our human laws are but the copies, more or less imperfect, of the eternal laws, so far as we can read them.

A person possessed with an idea cannot be reasoned with.