A man unattached and without wife, if he have any genius at all, may raise himself above his original position, may mingle with the world of fashion, and hold himself on a level with the highest; this is less easy for him who is engaged; it seems as if marriage put the whole world in their proper rank.

A man of moderate Understanding, thinks he writes divinely: A man of good Understanding, thinks he writes reasonably.

Friendship * * * is a long time in forming, it is of slow growth, through many trials and months of familiarity.

All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone.

A blockhead cannot come in, nor go away, nor sit, nor rise, nor stand, like a man of sense.

A man is thirty years old before he has any settled thoughts of his fortune; it is not completed before fifty. He falls to building in his old age, and dies by the time his house is in a condition to be painted and glazed.

The whole genius of an author consists in describing well, and delineating character well. Homer, Plato, Virgil, Horace only excel other writers by their expressions and images; we must indicate what is true if we mean to write naturally, forcibly and delicately.