Grace is in a great measure a natural gift; elegance implies cultivation; or something of more artificial character. A rustic, uneducated girl may be graceful, but an elegant woman must be accomplished and well trained. It is the same with things as with persons; we talk of a graceful tree, but of an elegant house or other building. Animals may be graceful, but they cannot be elegant. The movements of a kitten or a young fawn are full of grace; but to call them "elegant" animals would be absurd.

A man who gives his children habits of industry provides for them better than by giving them fortune.

The word of knowledge, strictly employed, implies three things: truth, proof, and conviction.

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.

All gaming, since it implies a desire to profit at the expense of another, involves a breach of the tenth commandment.

The happiest lot for a man, as far as birth is concerned, is that it should be such as to give him but little occasion to think much about it.

To follow imperfect, uncertain, or corrupted traditions, in order to avoid erring in our own judgment, is but to exchange one danger for another.