Men go to sea, before they know the unhappiness of that way of life; and when they have come to know it, they cannot escape from it, because it is then too late to choose another profession; as indeed is generally the case with men, when they have once engaged in any particular way of life.

Fly-fishing may be a very pleasant amusement; but angling or float fishing I can only compare to a stick and a string, with a worm at one end and a fool at the other.

I am sorry I have not learnt to play at cards. It is very useful in life: it generates kindness, and consolidates society.

A man with a good coat upon his back meets with a better reception than he who has a bad one.

No man can taste the fruits of autumn while he is delighting his scent with the flowers of spring.

Ease, a neutral state between pain and pleasure ... if it is not rising into pleasure will be falling towards pain.

Those whose abilities or knowledge incline them most to deviate from the general round of life are recalled from eccentricity by the laws of their existence.