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

Great men lose somewhat of their greatness by being near us; ordinary men gain much.

There is no more certain sign of a narrow mind, of stupidity, and of arrogance, than to stand aloof from those who think differently from us.

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

Such is our impatience, such our hatred of procrastination, to everything but the amendment of our practices and the adornment of our nature, one would imagine we were dragging Time along by force, and not he us.

An ingenious mind feels in unmerited praise the bitterest reproof.

Democracy is always the work of kings. Ashes, which in themselves are sterile, fertilize the land they are cast upon.