As the mind must govern the hands, so in every society the man of intelligence must direct the man of labor.

The purpose of a writer is to be read, and the criticism which would destroy the power of pleasing must be blown aside

All discourse of which others cannot partake is not only an irksome usurpation of the time devoted to pleasure and entertainment, but, what never fails to excite resentment, an insolent assertion of superiority, and a triumph over less enlightened understandings. The pedant is, therefore, not only heard with weariness but malignity; and those who conceive themselves insulted by his knowledge never fail to tell with acrimony how injudiciously it was exerted.

To be free it is not enough to beat the system, one must beat the system every day

Friendship, compounded of esteem and love, derives from one its tenderness and its permanence from the other.

The world is seldom what it seems; to man, who dimly sees, realities appear as dreams, and dreams realities.

Poverty is often concealed in splendor, and often in extravagance. It is the task of many people to conceal their neediness from others. Consequently they support themselves by temporary means, and everyday is lost in contriving for tomorrow.