Almost every man wastes part of his life attempting to display qualities which he does not possess.

The majority of a society is the true definition of the public.

Nothing is more common than mutual dislike, where mutual approbation is particularly expected.

Those writers who lie on the watch for novelty can have little hope of greatness; for great things cannot have escaped former observation.

Poverty is often concealed in splendor, and often in extravagance. It is the task of many people to conceal their neediness from others. Consequently they support themselves by temporary means, and everyday is lost in contriving for tomorrow.

An age that melts in unperceiv'd decay, And glides in modest innocence away.

I am not so lost in lexicography as to forget that words are the daughters of earth, and that things are the sons of heaven.