Every instance of a man's suffering the penalty of the law is an instance of the failure of that penalty in effecting its purpose, which is to deter.

It may be said, almost without qualification, that true wisdom consists in the ready and accurate perception of analogies. Without the former quality, knowledge of the past is unobstructive: without the latter it is deceptive.

Curiosity is as much the parent of attention, as attention is of memory.

To be always thinking about your manners is not the way to make them good; the very perfection of manners is not to think about yourself.

An instinct is a blind tendency to some mode of action, independent of any consideration, on the part of the agent, of the end to which the action leads.

The relief that is afforded to mere want, as want, tends to increase that want.

Those who relish the study of character may profit by the reading of good works of fiction, the product of well-established authors.