A man's needs are few. The simpler the life, therefore, the better. Indeed, only three things are truly necessary in order to make life happy: the blessing of God, the benefit of books, and the benevolence of friends.

By the very constitution of our nature moral evil is its own curse.

The character wherewith we sink into the grave at death, is the very character wherewith we shall re-appear on the day of resurrection.

The best way to overcome the world is not with morality or self-discipline. Christians overcome the world by seeing the beauty and excellence of Christ. They overcome the world by seeing something more attractive than the world: Christ

Acts of virtue ripen into habits; and the goodly and permanent result is the formation or establishment of a virtuous character.

Every man is a missionary, now and forever, for good or for evil, whether he intends or designs it or not. He may be a blot radiating his dark influence outward to the very circumference of society, or he may be a blessing spreading benediction over the length and breadth of the world. But a blank he cannot be: there are no moral blanks; there are no neutral characters.

Enthusiasm is a virtue rarely to be met with in seasons of calm and unruffled prosperity.