The share we have in the knowledge of truth, such as it is, has not been acquired by our own powers. God has taught ushis wonderful secrets; our faith is not of our acquiring, it is purely the gift of another's bounty.

Men of simple understanding, little inquisitive and little instructed, make good Christians.

Ceremony forbids us to express by words things that are lawful and natural, and we obey it; reason forbids us to do things unlawful and ill, and nobody obeys it.

Why dost thou complain of this world? It detains thee not; thy own cowardice is the cause, if thou livest in pain.

It needs good management to enjoy life. I enjoy it twice as much as others, for the measure of enjoyment depends on the greater or less attention that we give to it...The shorter my possession of life the deeper and fuller I must make it.

It is in the enjoyment and not in mere possession that makes for happiness.

Obstinacy and contention are common qualities, most appearing in, and best becoming, a mean and illiterate soul.