Life itself is ... a sleep within a sleep.

One of the most wonderful things in nature is a glance of the eye; it transcends speech; it is the bodily symbol of identity.

If, at any time, it comes into my head, that a present is due from me to somebody, I am puzzled what to give, until the opportunity is gone.

In a virtuous action, I properly am; in a virtuous act, I add to the world; I plant into deserts conquered from Chaos and Nothing, and see the darkness receding on the limits of the horizon.

I have sometimes thought that, in order to be a good minister, it was necessary to leave the ministry. The profession is antiquated. In an altered age, we worship in the dead forms of our forefathers.

Manners require time, and nothing is more vulgar than haste.

Bare lists of words are found suggestive to an imaginative and excited mind.