The spirit of Greece, passing through and ascending above the world, hath so animated universal nature, that the very rocks and woods, the very torrents and wilds burst forth with it.

A mercantile democracy may govern long and widely; a mercantile aristocracy cannot stand.

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.

There is a vast deal of vital air in loving words.

Study is the bane of childhood, the oil of youth, the indulgence of adulthood, and a restorative in old age.

An ingenuous mind feels in unmerited praise the bitterest reproof. If you reject it you are unhappy, if you accept it you are undone.

As there are some flowers which you should smell but slightly to extract all that is pleasant in them ... so there are some men with whom a slight acquaintance is quite sufficient to draw out all that is agreeable; a more intimate one would be unsafe and unsatisfactory.