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

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.

A schoolmaster should have an atmosphere of awe, and walk wonderingly, as if he was amazed at being himself.

The mystic reverence, the religious allegiance, which are essential to a true monarchy, are imaginative sentiments that no legislature can manufacture in any people.

The maxim of science is simply that of common sense-simple cases first; begin with seeing how the main force acts when there is as little as possible to impede it, and when you thoroughly comprehend that, add to it in succession the separate effects of each of the incumbering and interfering agencies.

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

The reason why so few good books are written is that so few people who can write know anything.