A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.

Every mind must make its choice between truth and repose. It cannot have both.

If we meet no gods, it is because we harbor none.

Wise men read very sharply all your private history in your look and gait and behavior. The whole economy of nature is bent on expression. The tell-tale body is all tongues. Men are like Geneva watches with crystal faces which expose the whole movement.

I DO not count the hours I spend In wandering by the sea; The forest is my loyal friend, Like God it useth me.

The history of reform is always identical; it is the comparison of the idea with the fact. Our modes of living are not agreeable to our imagination. We suspect they are unworthy. We arraign our daily employments.

The magnanimous know very well that they who give time, or money, or shelter, to the stranger--so it be done for love, and not forostentation--do, as it were, put God under obligation to them, so perfect are the compensations of the universe.