But I shall hear without pain, that I play the courtier very ill, and talk of that which I do not well understand.

The consciousness in each man is a sliding scale, which identifies him now with the First Cause, and now with the flesh of his body; life above life, in infinite degrees.

The brevity of human life gives a melancholy to the profession of the architect.

We know more from nature than we can at will communicate.

There is a third silent party to all our bargains. The nature and soul of things takes on itself the guaranty of the fulfillment of every contract, so that honest service cannot come to loss. If you serve an ungrateful master, serve him the more. Put God in your debt. Every stroke shall be repaid. The longer the payment is withholden, the better for you; for compound interest on compound interest is the rate and usage of this exchequer.

A man is the whole encyclopedia of facts.

Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events.