The noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees is the high road that leads him to England.

And panting Time toil'd after him in vain.

Many of our miseries are merely comparative: we are often made unhappy, not by the presence of any real evil, but by the absence of some fictitious good; of something which is not required by any real want of nature, which has not in itself any power of gratification, and which neither reason nor fancy would have prompted us to wish, did we not see it in the possession of others.

There is reason to suspect, that the distinctions of mankind have more show than value, when it is found that all agree to be weary alike of pleasures and of cares; that the powerful and the weak, the celebrated and obscure, join in one common wish, and implore from nature's hand the nectar of oblivion.

We have less reason to be surprised or offended when we find others differ from us in opinion, because we very often differ from ourselves.

We go from anticipation to anticipation, not from satisfaction to satisfaction.

Prosperity's right hand is industry and her left hand is frugality.