Truth is a point, the subtlest and finest; harder than adamant; never to be broken, worn away, or blunted. Its only bad quality is, that it is sure to hurt those who touch it; and likely to draw blood, perhaps the life blood, of those who press earnestly upon it.

Political men, like goats, usually thrive best among inequalities.

Fame, they tell you, is air; but without air there is no life for any; without fame there is none for the best.

The wise become as the unwise in the enchanted chambers of Power, whose lamps make every face the same colour.

Ambition is but avarice on stilts, and masked. God sometimes sends a famine, sometimes a pestilence, and sometimes a hero, for the chastisement of mankind; none of them surely for our admiration.

The only effect of public punishment is to show the rabble how bravely it can be borne; and that every one who hath lost a toe-nail hath suffered worse.

It is delightful to kiss the eyelashes of the beloved--is it not? But never so delightful as when fresh tears are on them.