It is not that pearls fetch a high price because men have dived for them; but on the contrary, men have dived for them because they fetch a high price.

Even supposing there were some spiritual advantage in celibacy, it ought to be completely voluntary.

It is folly to expect men to do all that they may reasonably be expected to do.

The first requisite of style, not only in rhetoric, but in all compositions, is perspicuity.

Fancy, when once brought into religion, knows not where to stop. It is like one of those fiends in old stories which any one could raise, but which, when raised, could never be kept within the magic circle.

Though not always called upon to condemn ourselves, it is always safe to suspect ourselves.

Proverbs accordingly are somewhat analogous to those medical Formulas which, being in frequent use, are kept ready-made-up in the chemists’ shops, and which often save the framing of a distinct Prescription.