And what is friendship but a name, A charm that lulls to sleep, A shade that follows wealth or fame, And leaves the wretch to weep?

When any one of our relations was found to be a person of a very bad character, a troublesome guest, or one we desired to get rid of, upon his leaving my house I ever took care to lend him a riding-coat, or a pair of boots, or sometimes a horse of small value, and I always had the satisfaction of finding he never came back to return them.

The genteel thing is the genteel thing any time, if as be that a gentleman bees in a concatenation accordingly.

Life has been compared to a race, but the allusion improves by observing, that the most swift are usually the least manageable and the most likely to stray from the course. Great abilities have always been less serviceable to the possessors than moderate ones.

A book may be very amusing with numerous errors, or it may be very dull without a single absurdity.

People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy.

The work of eradicating crimes is not by making punishment familiar, but formidable.