To be able to discern that what is true is true, and that what is false is false,--this is the mark and character of intelligence.

I pray my companion, if he wishes for bread, to ask me for bread, and if he wishes for sassafras or arsenic, to ask me for them, and not to hold out his plate, as if I knew already.

There are books... which rank in our life with parents and lovers and passionate experiences.

We have a great deal more kindness than is ever spoken. (Despite) all the selfishness that chills like east winds the world, the whole human family is bathed with an element of love like a fine ether... The effect of the indulgence of this human affection is a certain cordial exhilaration.

All things are known to the soul.

In the right hands, literature is not resorted to as a consolation, and by the broken and decayed, but as a decalogue.

The State is a poor, good beast who means the best: it means friendly.