The effective strength of sects is not to be ascertained merely by counting heads.

Generalization is necessary to the advancement of knowledge; but particularly is indispensable to the creations of the imagination. In proportion as men know more and think more they look less at individuals and more at classes. They therefore make better theories and worse poems.

He who, in an enlightened and literary society, aspires to be a great poet, must first become a little child.

To be a really good historian is perhaps the rarest of intellectual distinctions.

It is possible to be below flattery as well as above it. One who trusts nobody will not trust sycophants. One who does not value real glory will not value its counterfeit.

The chief-justice was rich, quiet, and infamous.

Language is the machine of the poet.