Many politicians are in the habit of laying it down as a self-evident proposition that no people ought to be free till they are fit to use their freedom. The maxim is worthy of the fool in the old story who resolved not to go into the water till he had learned to swim.

Even the law of gravitation would be brought into dispute were there a pecuniary interest involved.

As civilization advances, poetry almost necessarily declines.

Beards in olden times, were the emblems of wisdom and piety.

A government cannot be wrong in punishing fraud or force, but it is almost certain to be wrong if, abandoning its legitimate function, it tells private individuals that it knows their business better than they know it themselves.

Highest among those who have exhibited human nature by means of dialogue stands Shakespeare. His variety is like the variety of nature,--endless diversity, scarcely any monstrosity.

Genius is subject to the same laws which regulate the production of cotton and molasses.