Perhaps, on the whole, embarrassment and perplexity are a kind of natural accompaniment to life and movement; and it is better to be driven out of your senses with thinking which of two things you ought to do than to do nothing whatever, and be utterly uninteresting to all the world.

Good works may only be beautiful sins, if they are not done in a true spirit.

There is nothing so costly as bargains.

... I have always been a disappointment to my friends. I have no gift of talk, not much to say; and though I have always been an excellent listener, that only succeeds under auspicious circumstances.

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

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

Married people do stand up so for each other when you say a word, however they may fight between themselves.