We oftener say things because we can say them well, than because they are sound and reasonable.

I sometimes think that the most plaintive ditty has brought a fuller joy and of longer duration to its composer that the conquest of Persia to the Macedonian.

Was genius ever ungrateful? Mere talents are dry leaves, tossed up and down by gusts of passion, and scattered and swept away; but, Genius lies on the bosom of Memory, and Gratitude at her feet.

No ashes are lighter than those of incense, and few things burn out sooner.

Everything that looks to the future elevates human nature.

Nations, like individuals, interest us in their growth.

The sweetest souls, like the sweetest flowers, soon canker in cities, and no purity is rarer there than the purity of delight.