A true Englishman doesn't joke when he is talking about so serious a thing as a wager.

On the surface of the ocean, men wage war and destroy each other; but down here, just a few feet beneath the surface, there is a calm and peace, unmolested by man

I looked on, I thought, I reflected, I admired, in a state of stupefaction not altogether unmingled with fear!

The moon, by her comparative proximity, and the constantly varying appearances produced by her several phases, has always occupied a considerable share of the attention of the inhabitants of the earth.

It may be taken for granted that, rash as the Americans are, when they are prudent there is good reason for it.

Everything is possible for an eccentric, especially when he is English.

But to find, all at once, right before your eyes, that the impossible had been mysteriously achieved by man himself: this staggers the mind!