The natural progress of the works of men is from rudeness to convenience, from convenience to elegance, and from elegance to nicety.

Without good humour, learning and bravery can only confer that superiority which swells the heart of the lion in the desert, where he roars without reply, and ravages without resistance. Without good humour virtue may awe by its dignity and amaze by its brightness, but must always be viewed at a distance, and will scarcely gain a friend or attract an imitator.

Some read for style, and some for argument: one has little care about the sentiment, he observes only how it is expressed; another regards not the conclusion, but is diligent to mark how it is inferred; they read for other purposes than the attainment of practical knowledge; and are no more likely to grow wise by an examination of a treatise of moral prudence, than an architect to inflame his devotion by considering attentively the proportions of a temple.

[C]ourage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other.

Sir, I have found you an argument; but I am not obliged to find you an understanding.

Resentment gratifies him who intended an injury, and pains him unjustly who did not intend it.

A transition from an author's book to his conversation, is too often like an entrance into a large city.