Sympathy is a supporting atmosphere, and in it we unfold easily and well.

The corruption of man is followed by the corruption of language. ... In due time, the fraud is manifest, and words lose all power to stimulate the understanding or the affections.

I wish to speak with all respect of persons, but sometimes I must pinch myself to keep awake, and preserve the due decorum. They melt so fast into each other, that they are like grass and trees, and it needs an effort to treat them as individuals.

Good bye, proud world! I'm going home; Thou art not my friend, and I'm not thine

We do not quite forgive a giver. The hand that feeds us is in some danger of being bitten.

The genius of reading and of gardening are antagonistic, like resinous and vitreous electricity. One is concentrative in sparks and shocks: the other is diffuse strength; so that each disqualifies its workman for the other's duties.

Preaching is the expression of moral sentiments applied to the duties of life.