Our minds should not be empty because if they are not preoccupied by good, evil will break in upon them.

No estimate is more in danger of erroneous calculations than those by which a man computes the force of his own genius.

Authors and lovers always suffer some infatuation, from which only absence can set them free.

Ah! Sir, a boy's being flogged is not so severe as a man's having the hiss of the world against him.

Too much vigor in the beginning of an undertaking often intercepts and prevents the steadiness and perseverance always necessary in the conduct of a complicated scheme.

The whole of life is but keeping away the thoughts of death.

To excite opposition and inflame malevolence is the unhappy privilege of courage made arrogant by consciousness of strength.