I have observed that not the man who hopes when others despair, but the man who despairs when others hope, is admired by a large class of persons as a sage.

So long as an opinion is strongly rooted in the feelings, it gains rather than loses in stability by having a preponderating weight of argument against it.

Any participation, even in the smallest public function, is useful.

The principles which men profess on any controverted subject are usually a very incomplete exponent of the opinions they really hold.

The most cogent reason for restricting the interference of government is the great evil of adding unnecessarily to its power.

The cause, then, philosophically speaking, is the sum total of the conditions, positive and negative, taken together; the whole of the contingencies of every description, which being realized, the consequent invariably follows.

It is questionable if all the mechanical inventions yet made have lightened the day's toil of any human being.