Only imagine a man acting for one single day on the supposition that all his neighbors believe all that they profess, and act up to all that they believe!

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

Knowledge advances by steps, and not by leaps.

It is good to be often reminded of the inconsistency of human nature, and to learn to look without wonder or disgust on the weaknesses which are found in the strongest minds.

Complete self-devotion is woman's part.

To carry the spirit of peace into war is a weak and cruel policy. When an extreme case calls for that remedy which is in its own nature most violent, and which, in such cases, is a remedy only because it is violent, it is idle to think of mitigating and diluting. Languid war can do nothing which negotiation or submission will do better: and to act on any other principle is, not to save blood and money, but to squander them.

The hearts of men are their books; events are their tutors; great actions are their eloquence.