The balls of sight are so formed, that one man's eyes are spectacles to another, to read his heart with.

I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read.

We all live upon the hope of pleasing somebody, and the pleasure of pleasing ought to be greatest, and at last always will be greatest, when our endeavours are exerted in consequence of our duty.

The disturbers of our happiness, in this world, are our desires, our griefs, and our fears.

Age is rarely despised but when it is, contemptible.

It is observed of gold, by an old epigrammatist, that to have it is to be in fear, and to want it is to be in sorrow.

It was the maxim, I think, of Alphonsus of Aragon, that dead counsellors are safest. The grave puts an end to flattery and artifice, and the information we receive from books is pure from interest, fear, and ambition. Dead counsellors are likewise most instructive, because they are heard with patience and with reverence.