Sir, you have but two topics, yourself and me. I am sick of both.

Irresolution and mutability are often the faults of men whose views are wide, and whose imagination is vigorous and excursive.

Exactness is first obtained, and afterwards elegance. But diction, merely vocal, is always in its childhood. As no man leaves his eloquence behind him, the new generations have all to learn. There may possibly be books without a polished language, but there can be no polished language without books.

To hear complaints with patience, even when complaints are vain, is one of the duties of friendship.

A man of sense and education should meet a suitable companion in a wife. It is a miserable thing when the conversation can only be such as whether the mutton should be boiled or roasted, and probably a dispute about that.

The traveler that resolutely follows a rough and winding path will sooner reach the end of his journey than he that is always changing his direction, and wastes the hour of daylight in looking for smoother ground and shorter passages.

A book should teach us to enjoy life, or to endure it.