It is better that some should be unhappy rather than that none should be happy, which would be the case in a general state of equality.

I have already enjoyed too much; give me something to desire.

A transition from an author's book to his conversation is too often like an entrance into a large city, after a distant prospect. Remotely, we see nothing but spires of temples and turrets of palaces, and imagine it the residence of splendour, grandeur, and magnificence; but when we have passed the gates, we find it perplexed with narrow passages, disgraced with despicable cottages, embarrassed with obstructions, and clouded with smoke.

Fear naturally quickens the flight of guilt.

The vicious count their years; virtuous, their acts.

Nothing is more common than mutual dislike, where mutual approbation is particularly expected.

The love of retirement has in all ages adhered closely to those minds which have been most enlarged by knowledge, or elevated by genius. Those who enjoyed everything generally supposed to confer happiness have been forced to seek it in the shades of privacy.