Horse-play, romping, frequent and loud fits of laughter, jokes, and indiscriminate familiarity, will sink both merit and knowledge into a degree of contempt. They compose at most a merry fellow; and a merry fellow was never yet a respectable man.

Sincerity is the most compendious wisdom.

Awkwardness is a more real disadvantage than it is generally thought to be; it often occasions ridicule, it always lessens dignity.

Modesty is the only sure bait when you angle for praise.

The value of moments, when cast up, is immense, if well employed; if thrown away, their loss is irrecoverable.

The power of applying attention, steady and undissipated, to a single object, is the sure mark of superior genius.

Ridicule is the best test of truth.