Every desire is a viper in the bosom, who while he was chill was harmless; but when warmth gave him strength, exerted it in poison.

This man [Chesterfield], I thought, had been a Lord among wits; but I find he is only a wit among Lords.

The business of a poet is to examine not the individual but the species; to remark general properties and large appearances.

Studious to please, yet not ashamed to fail.

Good breeding consists in having no particular mark of any profession, but a general elegance of manners.

A wise man will make haste to forgive, because he knows the true value of time, and will not suffer it to pass away in unnecessary pain.

He who has provoked the shaft of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it.