Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.

The person who has a firm trust in the Supreme Being is powerful in his power, wise by his wisdom, happy by his happiness.

Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Waning moons their settled periods keep, to swell the billows and ferment the deep.

Faith is kept alive in us, and gathers strength, more from practice than from speculations.

Sir Francis Bacon observed that a well-written book, compared with its rivals and antagonists, is like Moses' serpent, that immediately swallowed up and devoured those of the Egyptians.

The most skillful flattery is to let a person talk on, and be a listener.