Commonplace though it may appear, this doing of one's duty embodies the highest ideal of life and character. There may be nothing heroic about it; but the common lot of men is not heroic.

There is no act, however trivial, but has its train of consequences.

Conscience is that peculiar faculty of the soul which may be called the religious instinct.

A woman's best qualities do not reside in her intellect, but in her affections. She gives refreshment by her sympathies, rather than by her knowledge.

Experience serves to prove that the worth and strength of a state depend far less upon the form of its institutions than upon the character of its men; for the nation is only the aggregate of individual conditions, and civilization itself is but a question of personal, improvement.

Riches do not constitute any claim to distinction. It is only the vulgar who admire riches as riches.

An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing.