A sneer is like a flame; it may occasionally be curative because it cauterizes, but it leaves a bitter scar.

... is there anything more unjust than to build gold and brass and iron on poor, well-meaning clay, -- and then blame the clay when the whole image falls into dust?

conceit is the devil's horse, and reformers generally ride it when they are in a hurry.

One must desire something to be alive; perhaps absolute satisfaction is only another name for Death.

There's one thing that always interests me about you good people, not your certainty that the rest of us are swine, - no doubt we are, - but your certainty that your opinions are pearls.

Books are like sapphires; they must be polished - polished! or else you insult your readers.

Self-sacrifice which denies common sense is not a virtue. It's a spiritual dissipation.