All free governments, whatever their name, are in reality governments by public opinion ; and it is on the quality of this public opinion that their prosperity depends. It is, therefore, their first duty to purify the element from which they draw the breath of life.

Reading Chaucer is like brushing through the dewy grass at sunrise.

Christ was the first true democrat that ever breathed, as the old dramatist Dekkar said he was the first true gentleman.

In vain we call old notions fudge, And bend our conscience to our dealing; The Ten Commandments will not budge, And stealing will continue stealing.

Solitude is as needful to the imagination as society is wholesome for the character.

The greater your real strength and power, the quieter it will be exercised.

A sneer is the weapon of the weak.