Nothing is necessary except God, and nothing is less necessary than pain.

I don't know what a scoundrel is like, but I know what a respectable man is like, and it's enough to make one's flesh creep.

Genius does not seem to derive any great support from syllogisms. Its carriage is free; its manner has a touch of inspiration. We see it come, but we never see it walk.

To know how to wait. It is the great secret of success.

There is no easy method of learning difficult things. The method is to close the door, give out that you are not at home, and work.

In the works of man, everything is as poor as its author; vision is confined, means are limited, scope is restricted, movements are labored, and results are humdrum.

Every individual or national degeneration is immediately revealed by a directly proportional degradation in language.