Men are like wine,--not good before the lees of clownishness be settled.

A sentence well couched takes both the sense and understanding. I love not those cart-rope speeches that are longer than the memory of man can fathom.

Promises may get friends, but it is performance that must nurse and keep them.

It is much safer to reconcile an enemy than to conquer him; victory may deprive him of his poison, but reconciliation of his will.

Pleasures can undo a man at any time, if yielded to.

It is a most unhappy state to be at a distance with God: man needs no greater infelicity than to be left to himself.

Knowledge is the treasure of the mind, but discretion is the key to it, without which it is useless. The practical part of wisdom is the best.