Governments have their origin in the moral identity of men.

Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.

The first and last lesson of religion is, "The things that are seen, are temporal; the things that are unseen, are eternal." It puts an affront upon nature.

Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might.

There is then creative reading as well as creative writing. When the mind is braced by labor and invention, the page of whatever book we read becomes luminous with manifold allusion. Every sentence is doubly significant, and the sense of our author is as broad as the world.

Envy is the tax which all distinction must pay.

"In the woods we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life~~no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes), which nature cannot repair."