I like people to be saints; but I want them to be first and superlatively honest men.

Liberty must be a mighty thing; for by it God punishes and rewards nations.

Faith, amid the disorders of a sinful life, is like the lamp burning in an ancient tomb.

In retirement, the passage of time seems accelerated. Nothing warns us of its flight. It is a wave which never murmurs, because there is no obstacle to its flow.

Old age is not one of the beauties of creation, but it is one of its harmonies. The law of contrasts is one of the laws of beauty. Under the conditions of our climate, shadow gives light its worth; sternness enhances mildness; solemnity, splendor. Varying proportions of size support and subserve one another.

Life grows darker as we go on, till only one pure light is left shining on it; and that is faith. Old age, like solitude and sorrow, has its revelations.

In youth we feel richer for every new illusion; in maturer years, for every one we lose.