We have long passed the Victorian Era when asterisks were followed after a certain interval by a baby.

Perfect is determined in shortened measures of time, not over long periods of time or lifetimes. It would be unnatural.

Men have an extraordinarily erroneous opinion of their position in nature; and the error is ineradicable.

Men have ascribed to God imperfections that they would deplore in themselves.

A soul is a troublesome possession, and when man developed it he lost the Garden of Eden.

Our natural egoism leads us to judge people by their relations to ourselves. We want them to be certain things to us, and for us that is what they are; because the rest of them is no good to us, we ignore it.

Usage is the only test. I prefer a phrase that is easy and unaffected to a phrase that is grammatical.