The history of nations, in the sense in which I use the word, is often best studied in works not professedly historical.

How it chanced that a man who reasoned on his premises so ably, should assume his premises so foolishly, is one of the great mysteries of human nature.

So true it is, that nature has caprices which art cannot imitate.

The passages in which Milton has alluded to his own circumstances are perhaps read more frequently, and with more interest, than any other lines in his poems.

The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners.

He had done that which could never be forgiven; he was in the grasp of one who never forgave.

A vice sanctioned by the general opinion is merely a vice. The evil terminates in itself. A vice condemned by the general opinion produces a pernicious effect on the whole character. The former is a local malady; the latter, constitutional taint. When the reputation of the offender is lost, he too often flings the remainder of his virtue after it in despair.