That virtue which requires to be ever guarded is scarce worth the sentinel.

Even children follow'd with endearing wile, And pluck'd his gown, to share the good man's smile.

It is impossible to combat enthusiasm with reason; for though it makes a show of resistance, it soon eludes the pressure, refers you to distinctions not to be understood, and feelings which it cannot explain. A man who would endeavor to fix an enthusiast by argument might as well attempt to spread quicksilver with his finger.

It seemed to me pretty plain, that they had more of love than matrimony in them.

Our chief comforts often produce our greatest anxieties, and the increase in our possessions is but an inlet to new disquietudes.

Religion does what philosophy could never do; it shows the equal dealings of Heaven to the happy and the unhappy, and levels all human enjoyments to nearly the same standard. It gives to both rich and poor the same happiness hereafter, and equal hopes to aspire after it.

And e'en while fashion's brightest arts decoy, The heart distrusting asks if this be joy.