That kind of life is most happy which affords us most opportunities of gaining our own esteem.

How small of all that human hearts endure/That part which laws or kings can cause or cure.

The hostility perpetually exercised between one man and another, is caused by the desire of many for that which only few can possess. Every man would be rich, powerful, and famous; yet fame, power, and riches, are only the names of relative conditions, which imply the obscurity, dependence, and poverty of greater numbers.

Every human being whose mind is not debauched, will be willing to give all that he has to get knowledge.

To get a name can happen but to few. A name, even in the most commercial nation, is one of the few things which cannot be bought . It is the free gift of mankind, which must be deserved before it will be granted, and is at last unwillingly bestowed.

Surely, it is much easier to respect a man who has always had respect, than to respect a man who we know was last year no better than ourselves, and will be no better next year.

If a man could say nothing against a character but what he can prove, history could not be written.