A wise skepticism is the first attribute of a good critic.

We cannot but think there is something like a fallacy in Mr. Buckle's theory that the advance of mankind is necessarily in the direction of science, and not in that of morals.

To fail at all is to fail utterly.

Have you ever rightly considered what the mere ability to read means? That it is the key which admits us to the whole world of thought and fancy and imagination? to the company of saint and sage, of the wisest and the wittiest at their wisest and wittiest moment? That it enables us to see with the keenest eyes, hear with the finest ears, and listen to the sweetest voices of all time? More than that, it annihilates time and space for us.

Sentiment is intellectualized emotion; emotion precipitated, as it were, in pretty crystals by the fancy.

Whatever you may be sure of, be sure of this, that you are dreadfully like other people.

All thoughtful men are solitary and original in themselves.