Silence is like nightfall. Objects are lost in it insensibly.

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

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.

The symptoms of compassion and benevolence, in some people, are like those minute guns which warn you that you are in deadly peril.

Feeling loves a subdued light.

The injustice of men subserves the justice of God, and often His mercy.

Impassioned characters never attain their mark till they have overshot it.