A true philosopher is beyond the reach of fortune.

Absurdities are great or small in proportion to custom or insuetude.

A smile is ever the most bright and beautiful with a tear upon it. What is the dawn without the dew? The tear is rendered by the smile precious above the smile itself.

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

Death stands above me, whispering low I know not what into my ear; Of his strange language all I know Is, there is not a word of fear.

The happy never say, and never hear said, farewell.

Of all studies, the most delightful and the most useful is biography. The seeds of great events lie near the surface; historians delve too deep for them. No history was ever true. Lives I have read which, if they were not, had the appearance, the interest, and the utility of truth.