In this republican country, amid the fluctuating waves of our social life, somebody is always at the drowning-point.

Insincerity in a man's own heart must make all his enjoyments, all that concerns him, unreal; so that his whole life must seem like a merely dramatic representation.

Nervous and excitable persons need to talk a great deal, by way of letting off their steam.

What other dungeon is so dark as one's own heart! What jailer so inexorable as one's self!

Women are safer in perilous situations and emergencies than men, and might be still more so if they trusted themselves more confidingly to the chivalry of manhood.

Happiness is like a butterfly - the more you chase, the more subtle, but if you stop moving and quietly wait for it to land on you.

The only sensible ends of literature are, first, the pleasurable toil of writing; second, the gratification of one's family and friends; and lastly, the solid cash.