We are unreasonably desirous to separate the goods of life from those evils which Providence has connected with them, and to catch advantages without paying the price at which they are offered to us. Every man wishes to be rich, but very few have the powers necessary to raise a sudden fortune, either by new discoveries, or by superiority of skill in any necessary employment; and among lower understandings many want the firmness and industry requisite to regular gain and gradual acquisitions.

Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those who we cannot resemble.

Everything that enlarges the sphere of human powers, that shows man he can do what he thought he could not do, is valuable.

Those whose abilities or knowledge incline them most to deviate from the general round of life are recalled from eccentricity by the laws of their existence.

The good of our present state is merely comparative, and the evil which every man feels will be sufficient to disturb and harass him if he does not know how much he escapes.

Sorrow is properly that state of the mind in which our desires are fixed upon the past without looking forward to the future.

To hear complaints with patience, even when complaints are vain, is one of the duties of friendship.