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

Devotion, when it does not lie under the check of reason, is apt to degenerate into enthusiasm.

One may know a man that never conversed in the world, by his excess of good-breeding.

Tradition is an important help to history, but its statements should be carefully scrutinized before we rely on them.

A cloudy day or a little sunshine have as great an influence on many constitutions as the most recent blessings or misfortunes.

If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend.

Most of the trades, professions, and ways of living among mankind, take their original either from the love of the pleasure, or the fear of want. The former, when it becomes too violent, degenerates into luxury, and the latter into avarice.