Let [children] be able to do all things, and love to do only the good.

No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.

On the highest throne in the world, we still sit only on our own bottom.

A liar would be brave toward God, while he is a coward toward men; for a lie faces God, and shrinks from man.

What enriches language is its being handled and exploited by beautiful minds-not so much by making innovations as by expanding it through more vigorous and varied applications, by extending it and deploying it. It is not words that they contribute: what they do is enrich their words, deepen their meanings and tie down their usage; they teach it unaccustomed rhythms, prudently though and with ingenuity.

Ambition sufficiently plagues her proselytes, by keeping themselves always in show, like the statue of a public place.

Great authors, when they write about causes, adduce not only those they think are true but also those they do not believe in, provided they have some originality and beauty. They speak truly and usefully enough if they speak ingeniously.