There is an enduring tenderness in the love of a mother to a son that trancends all other affections of the heart

[I]n the gloomy month of February.... The Deserts of Arabia are not more dreary and inhospitable than the streets of London at such a time.

A barking dog is often more useful than a sleeping lion.

after a man passes 60 , his mischief is mainly in his head

It's a fair wind that blew men to ale.

No man is so methodical as a complete idler, and none so scrupulous in measuring out his time as he whose time is worth nothing.

It was, as I have said, a fine autumnal day; the sky was clear and serene, and nature wore that rich and golden livery which we always associate with the idea of abundance. The forests had put on their sober brown and yellow, while some trees of the tendered kind had been nipped by the frosts into brilliant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet.