Man's chief merit consists in resisting the impulses of his nature.

Great abilities are not requisite for an Historian; for in historical composition, all the greatest powers of the human mind are quiescent.

There mark what ills the scholar's life assail, toil, envy, want, and patron.

Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries of poverty, sickness and captivity would, without this comfort, be insupportable.

All envy would be extinguished, if it were universally known that there are none to be envied.

It is scarcely credible to what degree discernment may be dazzled by the mist of pride, and wisdom infatuated by the intoxication of flattery.

Never, my dear Sir, do you take it into your head that I do not love you; you may settle yourself in full confidence both of my love and my esteem; I love you as a kind man, I value you as a worthy man, and hope in time to reverence you as a man of exemplary piety.