Of all the things which man can do or make here below, by far the most momentous, wonderful, and worthy are the things we call books.

The soul gives unity to what it looks at with love.

Great is wisdom; infinite is the value of wisdom. It cannot be exaggerated; it is the highest achievement of man.

The secret of business is to know something that nobody else knows. The greatest of faults, I should say is to be conscious of none.

History is the distillation of rumour.

True humor springs not more from the head than from the heart. It is not contempt; its essence is love. It issues not in laughter, but in still smiles, which lie far deeper.

Neither had Watt of the Steam engine a heroic origin, any kindred with the princes of this world. The princes of this world were shooting their partridges... While this man with blackened fingers, with grim brow, was searching out, in his workshop, the Fire-secret.