There seems to be an unalterable contradiction between the human mind and its employments. How can a soul be a merchant? What relation to an immortal being have the price of linseed, the brokerage on hemp? Can an undying creature debit petty expenses and charge for carriage paid? The soul ties its shoes; the mind washes its hands in a basin. All is incongruous.

To a great experience one thing is essential, an experiencing nature.

What impresses men is not mind, but the result of mind.

A constitutional statesman is in general a man of common opinions and uncommon abilities.

Life is a school of probability.

We must not let daylight in upon the magic.

It is good to be without vices, but it is not good to be without temptations.