I have thought many times since that if poets when they get discouraged would blow their brains out, they could write very much better when they got well.

To forget pain is to be painless; to forget care is to be rid of it; to go abroad is to accomplish both.

Who are we to create a heaven and hell for ourselves, excluding animals and plants in the bargain, just because we have the power to rationalize?

The editor of a newspaper cannot be independent, but must work with one hand tied behind him by party and patrons, and be content to utter only half or two-thirds of his mind . writers of all kinds are manacled servants of the public. We write frankly and fearlessly, but then we "modify" before we print.

None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try.

A jay hasnt got any more principle than a Congressman. A jay will lie, a jay will steal, a jay will deceive, a jay will betray; and four times out of five, a jay will go back on his solemnest promise.

No man that has ever lived has done a thing to please God--primarily. It was done to please himself, then God next.