If my intentions were not to be read in my eyes and voice, I should not have survived so long without quarrels and without harm, seeing the indiscreet freedom with which I say, right or wrong, whatever comes into my head.

The utility of living consists not in the length of days, but in the use of time; a man may have lived long, and yet lived but a little.

The most universal quality is diversity.

Meditation is a powerful and full study as can effectually taste and employ themselves.

What a wonderful thing it is that drop of seed, from which we are produced, bears in itself the impressions, not only of the bodily shape, but of the thoughts and inclinations of our fathers!

Repentance is no other than a recanting of the will, and opposition to our fancies, which lead us which way they please.

Eloquence is an engine invented to manage and wield at will the fierce democracy, and, like medicine to the sick, is only employed in the paroxysms of a disordered state.