As by the fires of experience, so by commission of crime you learn real morals. Commit all crimes, familiarize yourself with all sins, take them in rotation (there are only two or three thousand of them), stick to it, commit two or three every day, and by and by you will be proof against them. When you are through you will be proof against all sins and morally perfect. You will be vaccinated against every possible commission of them. This is the only way.

for business reasons, I must preserve the outward signs of sanity.

It is not worth while to try to keep history from repeating itself, for man's character will always make the preventing of the repetitions impossible.

How often we recall with regret that Napoleon once shot at a magazine editor and missed him and killed a publisher. But we remember with charity that his intentions were good.

You must not pay a person a compliment, and then straightway follow it with a criticism.

You may say organize, organize, organize; but there may be so much organization that it will interfere with the work to be done.

In statesmanship get formalities right, never mind about the moralities.