The basis of good manners is self-reliance.

True friends are two people who are comfortable sharing silence together.

Rhodora! If the sages ask thee why This charm is wasted on the earth and sky, Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing, Then Beauty is its own excuse for being.

It is commonly observed that a sudden wealth, like a prize drawn in a lottery or a large bequest to a poor family, does not permanently enrich. They have served no apprenticeship to wealth, and with the rapid wealth come rapid claims which they do not know how to deny, and the treasure is quickly dissipated.

My good hoe as it bites the ground revenges my wrongs, and I have less lust to bite my enemies. In the smoothing the rough hillocks, I smooth my temper.

The world of men show like a comedy without laughter: populations, interests, government, history; 't is all toy figures in a toyhouse.

You shall have joy, or you shall have power, said God; you shall not have both.