Those who are esteemed umpires of taste, are often persons who have acquired some knowledge of admired pictures or sculptures, andhave an inclination for whatever is elegant; but if you inquire whether they are beautiful souls, and whether their own acts are like fair pictures, you learn that they are selfish and sensual. Their cultivation is local, as if you should rub a log of dry wood in one spot to produce fire, all the rest remaining cold.

Men wish to be saved from the mischiefs of their vices, but not from their vices.

Divine persons are character born, or, to borrow a phrase from Napoleon, they are victory organized.

For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.

You will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it.

All my hurts my garden spade can heal.

The walls of rude minds are scrawled all over with facts, with thoughts. They shall one day bring a lantern and read the inscriptions.