I am dead to adverbs; they cannot excite me. To misplace an adverb is a thing which I am able to do with frozen indifference; it can never give me a pang. There are subtleties which I cannot master at all - they confuse me, they mean absolutely nothing to me - and this adverb plague is one of them.

To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.

Some authorities hold that the young ought not to lie at all. That, of course, is putting it rather stronger than necessary; still, while I cannot go quite so far as that, I do maintain, and I believe I am right, that the young ought to be temperate in the use of this great art until practice and experience shall give them that confidence, elegance and precision which alone can make the accomplishment graceful and profitable.

We take a natural interest in novelties, but it is against nature to take an interest in familiar things.

One of the proofs of the immortality of the soul is that myriads have believed it. They also believed the world was flat.

Wisdom teaches us that none but birds should go out early, and that not even birds should do it unless they are out of worms.

There is nothing more frustrating than a good example.