The moral system of the universe is like a document written in alternate ciphers, which change from line to line.

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.

Men are made by nature unequal. It is vain, therefore, to treat them as if they were equal.

I have long been convinced that the Christian Eucharist is but a continuation of the Eleusinian mysteries. St Paul, in using the word teleiois, almost confirms this.

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

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.

Crime is not punished as an offense against God, but as prejudicial to society.