Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.

A man of good sense but of little faith, whose compassion seemed to lead him to church as often as he went there, said to me; 'that he liked to have concerts, and fairs, and churches, and other public amusements go on.

What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness.

Oxford is a little aristocracy in itself, numerous and dignified enough to rank with other estates in the realm; and where fame and secular promotion are to be had for study, and in a direction which has the unanimous respect of all cultivated nations.

A sect or party is an elegant incognito devised to save a man from the vexation of thinking.

Great country, diminutive minds. America is formless, has no terrible and no beautiful condensation.

We expect a great man to be a good reader.