Whether zeal or moderation be the point we aim at, let us keep fire out of the one, and frost out of the other.

A person may be qualified to do greater good to mankind and become more beneficial to the world, by morality without faith than by faith without morality.

There is no defence against reproach, but obscurity; it is a kind of concomitant to greatness, as satires and invectives were an essential part of a Roman triumph.

Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.

Allegories, when well chosen, are like so many tracks of light in a discourse, that make everything about them clear and beautiful.

The most exquisite words and finest strokes of an author are those which very often appear the most doubtful and exceptionable to a man who wants a relish for polite learning; and they are those which a sour undistinguishing critic generally attacks with the greatest violence.

There is no kind of false wit which has been so recommended by the practice of all ages, as that which consists in a jingle of words, and is comprehended under the general name of punning.