To write a book is for all the world like humming a song.

The most affluent may be stripped of all, and find his worldly comforts, like so many withered leaves, dropping from him.

The more tickets you have in a lottery, the worse your chance. And it is the same of virtues, in the lottery of life.

A good simile,--as concise as a king's declaration of love.

When the precipitancy of a man's wishes hurries on his ideas ninety times faster than the vehicle he rides in--woe be to truth!

It is sweet to feel by what fine spun threads our affections are drawn together.

In solitude the mind gains strength, and learns to lean upon herself; in the world it seeks or accepts of a few treacherous supports--the feigned compassion of one, the flattery of a second, the civilities of a third, the friendship of a fourth--they all deceive, and bring the mind back to retirement, reflection, and books.