It is not possible to be regarded with tenderness, except by a few. That merit which gives greatness and renown diffuses its influence to a wide compass, but acts weakly on every single breast; it is placed at a distance from common spectators, and shines like one of the remote stars, of which the light reaches us, but not the heat.

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.

Most minds are the slaves of external circumstances, and conform to any hand that undertakes to mould them.

Patience and submission are very carefully to be distinguished from cowardice and indolence. We are not to repine, but we may lawfully struggle; for the calamities of life, like the necessities of Nature, are calls to labor and diligence.

Probably no one will ever know whether it is better to wear a nightcap or not.

Assertion is not argument; to contradict the statement of an opponent is not proof that you are correct.

Sir, a man who cannot get to heaven in a green coat, will not find his way thither the sooner in a grey one.