Fancy that thou deservest to be hangedthou wilt feel it happiness to be only shot: fancy that thou deservest to be hanged ina hair halter, it will be a luxury to die in hemp.

Roguery is thought by some to be cunning and laughable: it is neither; it is devilish.

Of all acts of man repentance is the most divine. The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none.

Our works are the mirror wherein the spirit first sees its natural lineaments. Hence, too, the folly of that impossible precept, Know theyself; till it be translated into this partially possible one, know what thou canst work at.

Fame, we may understand, is no sure test of merit, but only a probability of such: it is an accident, not a property, of a man; like light, it can give little or nothing, but at most may show what is given.

The Highest Being reveals himself in man.

The old cathedrals are good, but the great blue dome that hangs over everything is better.