Duties are not performed for duty's sake, but because their neglect would make the man uncomfortable. A man performs but one duty - the duty of contenting his spirit, the duty of making himself agreeable to himself.

Age enlarges and enriches the powers of some musical instruments - notably those of the violin - but it seems to set a piano's teeth on edge.

The New York papers have long known that no large question is ever really settled until I have been consulted.

The old man laughed loud and joyously, shook up the details of his anatomy from head to foot, and ended by saying that such a laugh was money in a man's pocket, because it cut down the doctor's bills like everything.

A good lawyer knows the law; a clever one takes the judge to lunch.

He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

You can't reason with your heart; it has its own laws, and thumps about things which the intellect scorns.