The saints were his friends, and blessed him; the monsters were his friends, and guarded him.

Civilization survives on the constant discovery of amity and an equal supply of damnation.

Table talk and Lovers' talk equally elude the grasp; Lovers' talk is clouds, table talk is smoke.

There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul.

If you want to civilize a man, begin with his grandmother.

Let us admit, without bitterness, that the individual has his distinct interests and can, without felony, stipulate for those interests and defend them. The present has its pardonable amount of egotism; momentary life has its claims, and cannot be expected to sacrifice itself incessantly to the future. The generation which is in its turn passing over the earth is not forced to abridge its life for the sake of the generations, its equals after all, whose turn shall come later on.

It seems as though, at the approach of a certain dark hour, the light of heaven infills those who are leaving the light of earth.