A gentleman who had been very unhappy in marriage, married immediately after his wife died; it was the triumph of hope over experience.

He that never thinks can never be wise.

He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.

Men, however distinguished by external accidents or intrinsick qualities, have all the same wants, the same pains, and, as far as the senses are consulted, the same pleasures.

Pity is not natural to man. Children are always cruel. Savages are always cruel. Pity is acquired and improved by the cultivation of reason. We may have uneasy sensations from seeing a creature in distress, without pity; for we have not pity unless we wish to relieve them.

It is wonderful what a difference learning makes upon people even in the common intercourse of life, which does not appear to be much connected with it.

I will take no more physick, not even my opiates; for I have prayed that I may render up my soul to God unclouded.