The laws of our being are such that we must perform some degree of use in the world, whether we intend it, or not; but we can deprive ourselves of its indwelling joy, by acting entirely from the love of self.

In the first place, the government ought not to be invested with power to control the affections, any more than the consciences of citizens. A man has at least as good a right to choose his wife, as he has to choose his religion. His taste may not suit his neighbors; but so long as his deportment is correct, they have no right to interfere with his concerns.

Even if nothing worse than wasted mental effort could be laid to the charge of theology, that alone ought to be sufficient to banish it from the earth, as one of the worst enemies of mankind.

No music is so pleasant to my ears as that word-father.

Belief in oneself is one of the most important bricks in building any successful venture.

So easy it is to see the errors of past ages, so difficult to acknowledge our own!

The eye of genius has always a plaintive expression, and its natural language is pathos.