every generation has a conceit of itself which elevates it, in its own opinion, above that which comes after it.

Laughing is not the first expression of joy. ... A person laughs in idleness, for fun, not for joy. Joy has nothing, nothing but the old way of tears.

Somehow even a popular fallacy has an aspect of truth when it suits one's own case.

There is nothing so costly as bargains.

Spring cold is like the poverty of a poor man who has had a fortune left him - better days are coming.

The ideal is the flower-garden of the mind, and very apt to run to weeds unless carefully tended.

Next to happiness, perhaps enmity is the most healthful stimulant of the human mind.