Miserable is the fate of writers: if they are agreeable, they are offensive; and if dull, they starve.

The most romantic region of every country is that where the mountains unite themselves with the plains or lowlands.

But the fruit that can fall without shaking Indeed is too mellow for me.

Making verses is almost as common as taking snuff, and God can tell what miserable stuff people carry about in their pockets, and offer to all their acquaintances, and you know one cannot refuse reading and taking a pinch.

Nobody should trust their virtue with necessity, the force of which is never known till it is felt, and it is therefore one of the first duties to avoid the temptation of it.

The familiarities of the gaming-table contribute very much to the decay of politeness ... The pouts and quarrels that naturally arise from disputes must put an end to all complaisance, or even good will towards one another.

There is no remedy so easy as books, which if they do not give cheerfulness, at least restore quiet to the most troubled mind.