One of the most important but one of the most difficult things for a powerful mind is to be its own master.

The schoolboy counts the time till the return of the holidays; the minor longs to be of age; the lover is impatient till he is married.

Man is distinguished from all other creatures by the faculty of laughter.

The hours of a wise man are lengthened by his ideas, as those of a fool are by his passions. The time of the one is long, because he does not know what to do with it; so is that of the other, because he distinguishes every moment of it with useful or amusing thoughts--or, in other words, because the one is always wishing it away, and the other always enjoying it.

If we hope for what we are not likely to possess, we act and think in vain, and make life a greater dream and shadow than it really is.

Our delight in any particular study, art, or science rises and improves in proportion to the application which we bestow upon it. Thus, what was at first an exercise becomes at length an entertainment.

My voice is still for war. Gods! can a Roman senate long debate Which of the two to choose, slavery or death?