For patience, sov'reign o'er transmuted ill.

There is no temper more unpropitious to interest than desultory application and unlimited inquiry, by which the desires are held in a perpetual equipoise, and the mind fluctuates between different purposes without determination.

Works of imagination excel by their allurement and delight; by their power of attracting and detaining the attention. That book is good in vain which the reader throws away. He only is the master who keeps the mind in pleasing captivity; whose pages are perused with eagerness, and in hope of new pleasure are perused again; and whose conclusion is perceived with an eye of sorrow, such as the traveller casts upon departing day.

It seems to be remarkable that death increases our veneration for the good, and extenuates our hatred for the bad.

He that thinks he can afford to be negligent is not far from being poor.

Misery and shame are nearly allied.

No man can enjoy happiness without thinking that he enjoys it.