So much blood has been shed by the Church because of an omission from the Gospel: “Ye shall be indifferent as to what your neighbor's religion is.” Not merely tolerant of it, but indifferent to it. Divinity is claimed for many religions; but no religion is great enough or divine enough to add that new law to its code.

There is a great difference between feeding parties to wild beasts and stirring up their finer feelings in an inquisition. One is the system of degraded barbarians, the other of enlightened civilized people.

Weather is a literary specialty, and no untrained hand can turn out a good article on it

Authorship is not a trade, it is an inspiration; authorship does not keep an office, its habitation is all out under the sky, and everywhere the winds are blowing and the sun is shining and the creatures of God are free.

Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.

I suppose, just as an honest man in politics shines more than he would elsewhere.

Everything human is pathetic. The secret source of humor itself is not joy but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.