Swans sing before they die - 'twere no bad thing should certain persons die before they sing.

In Shakespeare one sentence begets the next naturally; the meaning is all inwoven. He goes on kindling like a meteor through the dark atmosphere.

Poetry: the best words in the best order.

To sentence a man of true genius, to the drudgery of a school is to put a racehorse on a treadmill.

Call not that man wretched, who whatever else he suffers as to pain inflicted, or pleasure denied, has a child for whom he hopes and on whom he doats.

I never knew a trader in philanthropy who was not wrong in his head or heart somewhere or other.

The three great ends which a statesman ought to propose to himself in the government of a nation are, — 1. Security to possessors; 2. Facility to acquirers; and 3. Hope to all.