Man is the merriest species of the creation; all above or below him are serious.

If ridicule were employed to laugh men out of vice and folly, it might be of some use.

There is not a more unhappy being than a superannuated idol.

Religion prescribes to every miserable man the means of bettering his condition; nay, it shows him that the bearing of his afflictions as he ought to do, will naturally end in the removal of them.

It is of unspeakable advantage to possess our minds with an habitual good intention, and to aim all our thoughts, words, and actions at some laudable end.

If gratitude, when exerted towards another, naturally produces a very pleasing sensation in the mind of a grateful man, it exalts the soul into rapture when it is employed on this great object of gratitude to the beneficent Being who has given us everything we already possess, and from whom we expect everything we yet hope for.

There are many more shining qualities in the mind of man, but there is none so useful as discretion.