In wonder all philosophy began, in wonder it ends, and admiration fill up the interspace; but the first wonder is the offspring of ignorance, the last is the parent of adoration.

The water-lily, in the midst of waters, opens its leaves and expands its petals, at the first pattering of the shower, and rejoices in the rain-drops with a quicker sympathy than the packed shrubs in the sandy desert.

Poetry: the best words in the best order.

Works of imagination should be written in very plain language; the more purely imaginative they are the more necessary it is to be plain.

All men, even the most surly are influenced by affection.

Clergymen who publish pious frauds in the interest of the church are the orthodox liars of God.

It is the duty of the Judge in criminal trials to take care that the verdict of the jury is not founded upon any evidence except that which the law allows.