The apparent rulers of the English nation are like the most imposing personages of the a splendid procession; it is by them that the mob are influenced; it is they who the inspectors cheer. The real rulers are secreted in second hand carriages; no one cares for them or asks about them, but they are obeyed implicitly and unconsciously by reason of the splendour of those who eclipsed and preceded them.

A Parliament is nothing less than a big meeting of more or less idle people.

A slight daily unconscious luxury is hardly ever wanting to the dwellers in civilization; like the gentle air of a genial climate, it is a perpetual minute enjoyment.

No great work has ever been produced except after a long interval of still and musing meditation.

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

Life is a school of probability.

A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.