I have long been convinced that institutions purely democratic must, sooner or later, destroy liberty or civilization, or both.

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.

Language is the machine of the poet.

The upper current of society presents no pertain criterion by which we can judge of the direction in which the under current flows.

In every age the vilest specimens of human nature are to be found among demagogues.

As civilization advances, poetry almost necessarily declines.

There is surely no contradiction in saying that a certain section of the community may be quite competent to protect the persons and property of the rest, yet quite unfit to direct our opinions, or to superintend our private habits.