When a man says he wants to work, what he means is that he wants wages.

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.

Some persons follow the dictates of their conscience only in the same sense in which a coachman may be said to follow the horses he is driving.

knowledge of our duties is the most useful part of philosophy.

Some persons resemble certain trees, such as the nut, which flowers in February and ripens its fruit in September; or the juniper and the arbutus; which take a whole year or more to perfect their fruit; and others, the cherry, which takes between two an three months.

Reason can no more influence the will, and operate as a motive, than the eyes which show a man his road can enable him to move from place to place, or that a ship provided with a compass can sail without a wind.

Happiness is no laughing matter.