Nothing is more unpleasant than a virtuous person with a mean mind.

A democratic despotism is like a theocracy: it assumes its own correctness.

One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea.

We think of Euclid as of fine ice; we admire Newton as we admire the peak of Teneriffe. Even the intensest labors, the most remote triumphs of the abstract intellect, seem to carry us into a region different from our own-to be in a terra incognita of pure reasoning, to cast a chill on human glory.

Conquest is the missionary of valor, and the hard impact of military virtues beats meanness out of the world.

We see but one aspect of our neighbor, as we see but one side of the moon; in either case there is also a dark half, which is unknown to us. We all come down to dinner, but each has a room to himself.

The whole history of civilization is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards