Novels do not force their fair readers to sin, they only instruct them how to sin; the consequences of which are fully detailed, and not in a way calculated to seduce any but weak but weak minds; few of their heroines are happily disposed of.

The ill usage of every minute is a new record against us in heaven.

Take care to be an economist in prosperity. There is no fear of your being one in adversity.

That happy state of mind, so rarely possessed, in which we can say, "I have enough," is the highest attainment of philosophy.

There appears to exist a greater desire to live long than to live well! Measure by man's desires, he cannot live long enough; measure by his good deeds, and he has not lived long enough; measure by his evil deeds, and he has lived too long.

Nobility should be elective, not hereditary.

Never suffer the prejudice of the eye to determine the heart.