There is no need to suppose that human beings differ very much one from another; but it is true that the ones who come out on top are the ones who have been trained in the hardest school.

Amassing of wealth is an opportunity for good deeds, not hubris

It is frequently a misfortune to have very brilliant men in charge of affairs. They expect too much of ordinary men.

For men can endure to hear others praised only so long as they can severally persuade themselves of their own ability to equal the actions recounted: when this point is passed, envy comes in and with it incredulity.

Three of the gravest failings, want of sense, of courage, or of vigilance.

They whose minds are least sensitive to calamity, and whose hands are most quick to meet it, are the greatest men and the greatest communities.

Ignorance is bold and knowledge reserved.