A man has no more right to say an uncivil thing than to act one; no more right to say a rude thing to another than to knock him down.

...a common observation, that few are mended by imprisonment, and that he, whose crimes have made confinement necessary, seldom makes any other use of his enlargement, than to do, with greater cunning, what he did before with less.

Nothing is more hopeless than a scheme of merriment.

Do not ... hope wholly to reason away your troubles; do not feed them with attention, and they will die imperceptibly away. Fix your thoughts upon your business, fill your intervals with company, and sunshine will again break in upon your mind.

Questioning is not the mode of conversation among gentlemen.

Cowardice encroaches fast upon such as spend their lives in company of persons higher than themselves.

Change is not made without inconvenience.