A mere literary man is a dull man; a man who is solely a man of business is a selfish man; but when literature and commerce are united, they make a respectable man.

Let him go abroad to a distant country; let him go to some place where he is not known. Don't let him go to the devil, where he is known.

Bounty always receives part of its value from the manner in which it is bestowed.

But to the particular species of excellence men are directed, not by an ascendant planet or predominating humour, but by the first book which they read, some early conversation which they heard, or some accident which excited ardour and emulation.

When any fit of gloominess, or perversion of mind, lays hold upon you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaints, but exert your whole care to hide it; by endeavouring to hide it; you will dry it away. Be always busy.

Agriculture not only gives riches to a nation, but the only riches she can call her own.

Though the wisdom or virtue of one can very rarely make many happy, the folly or vice of one man often make many miserable.