Most of us retain enough of the theological attitude to think that we are little gods.

It takes me several days, after I get back to Boston, to realize that the reference "the president" refers to the president of Harvard and not to a minor official in Washington.

Detached reflection cannot be demanded in the presence of an uplifted knife.

The only condition of peace in this world is to have no ideas, or, at least not to express them.

I despise making the most of one's time. Half of the pleasures of life consist of the opportunities one has neglected.

The best of a book is not the thought which it contains, but the thought which it suggests; just as the charm of music dwells not in the tones but in the echoes of our hearts.

The great end of being is to harmonize man with the order of things, and the church has been a good pitch-pipe, and may be so still.