A contempt of the monuments and the wisdom of the past, may be justly reckoned one of the reigning follies of these days, to which pride and idleness have equally contributed.

We must consider how very little history there is--I mean real, authentic history. That certain kings reigned and certain battles were fought, we can depend upon as true; but all the coloring, all the philosophy, of history is conjecture.

Perhaps man is the only being that can properly be called idle.

Life protracted is protracted woe.

Madam, before you flatter a man so grossly to his face, you should consider whether or not your flattery is worth his having.

Politeness is one of those advantages which we never estimate rightly but by the inconvenience of its loss.

Such are the vicissitudes of the world, through all its parts, that day and night, labor and rest, hurry and retirement, endear each other; such are the changes that keep the mind in action: we desire, we pursue, we obtain, we are satiated; we desire something else and begin a new pursuit.