An obstinate man does not hold opinions, but they hold him; for when he is once possessed with an error, it is, like a devil, only cast out with great difficulty.

There is no permanent absolute unchangeable truth; what we should pursue is the most convenient arrangement of our ideas.

The course of true anything never does run smooth.

The public do not know enough to be experts, but know enough to decide between them.

History is a bucket of ashes.

It seems to be the fate of man to seek all his consolations in futurity. The time present is seldom able to fill desire or imagination with immediate enjoyment, and we are forced to supply its deficiencies by recollection or anticipation.

There is one class of mind that loves to lean on rules and definitions, and another that discards them as far as possible. A faddist will generally ask for a definition of faddism, and one who is not a faddist will be impatient of being asked to give one.