All Congresses and Parliaments have a kindly feeling for idiots, and a compassion for them, on account of personal experience and heredity.

There are things which some people never attempt during their whole lives, but one of these is not poetry. Poetry attacks all human beings sooner or later, and, like the measles, is mild or violent according to the age of the sufferer.

A sound heart is a surer guide than an ill-trained conscience.

When someone dies, it is like when your house burns down; it isn't for years that you realize the full extent of your loss.

We find not much in ourselves to admire, we are always privately wanting to be like somebody else. If everybody was satisfied with himself, there would be no heroes

Between believing a thing and thinking you KNOW is only a small step and quickly taken.

The difference between a Miracle and a Fact is exactly the difference between a mermaid and a seal.