The power of punishment is to silence, not to confute.

Ignorance cannot always be inferred from inaccuracy; knowledge is not always present.

Self-love is often rather arrogant than blind; it does not hide our faults from ourselves, but persuades us that they escape the notice of others.

The chief art of learning, as Locke has observed, is to attempt but little at a time. The widest excursions of the mind are made by short flights frequently repeated; the most lofty fabrics of science are formed by the continued accumulation of single propositions.

If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.

To proportion the eagerness of contest to its importance seems too hard a task for human wisdom. The pride of wit has kept ages busy in the discussion of useless questions, and the pride of power has destroyed armies, to gain or to keep unprofitable possessions.

Man alone is born crying, lives complaining, and dies disappointed.