Nothing is more idle than to inquire after happiness, which nature has kindly placed within our reach.

This is my history; like all other histories, a narrative of misery.

The advice that is wanted is commonly not welcome and that which is not wanted, evidently an effrontery.

I inherited a vile melancholy from my father, which has made me mad all my life, at least not sober.

It is a maxim that no man was ever enslaved by influence while he was fit to be free.

That is the happiest conversation where there is no competition, no vanity, but a calm, quiet interchange of sentiments...

In traveling, a man must carry knowledge with him, if he would bring home knowledge.