The proverbial philosophy of a people helps us to understand more about them than any other kind of literature.

But what is after all the happiness of mere power? There is a greater happiness possible than to be lord of heaven and earth; that is the happiness of being truly loved.

A proof of really great art is that it is generally true - it seldom falls into the misapprehensions to which minor art is liable.

For this reason, to study English literature without some general knowledge of the relation of the Bible to that literature would be to leave one's literary education very incomplete.

Any idealism is a proper subject for art.

But every great scripture, whether Hebrew, Indian, Persian, or Chinese, apart from its religious value will be found to have some rare and special beauty of its own; and in this respect the original Bible stands very high as a monument of sublime poetry and of artistic prose.

The more you wish to be, the wiser you are; while the wish to have is apt to be foolish in proportion to its largeness.