The gates of thought, - how slow and late they discover themselves! Yet when they appear, we see that they were always there, always open.

Nature magically suits a man to his fortunes, by making them the fruit of his character.

The only compensation which war offers for its manifold mischiefs, is in the great personal qualities to which it gives scope and occasion.

Nature has made up her mind that what cannot defend itself shall not be defended.

It is impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself.

Two sorts of writers possess genius: those who think, and those who cause others to think.

No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution; the only wrong is what is against it.