Speech was given to the ordinary sort of men, whereby to communicate their mind; but to wise men, whereby to conceal it.

He that tears away a man's good name tears his flesh from his bones, and, by letting him live, gives him only a cruel opportunity of feeling his misery, of burying his better part, and surviving himself.

There is not the least flower but seems to hold up its head, and to look pleasantly, in the secret sense of the goodness of its Heavenly Maker.

Similes prove nothing, but yet greatly lighten and relieve the tedium of argument.

It is a noble and great thing to cover the blemishes and excuse the failings of a friend; to draw a curtain before his weaknesses and to display his perfections; to bury his shortcomings in silence but to proclaim his virtues on the housetop.

He who does a kindness to an ungrateful person, sets his seal to a flint and sows his seed upon the sand; on the former he makes no impression, and from the latter finds no product.

So he that despairs, limits an Infinite Power to a Finite Apprehension, and measures Providence by his own little, contracted Model.