Real greatness has nothing to do with a man’s sphere. It does not lie in the magnitude of his outward agency, in the extent of the effects which he produces. The greatest men may do comparatively little.

No punishment is so terrible as prosperous guilt.

Let every man, if possible, gather some good books under his roof.

The hills are reared, the seas are scooped in vain If learning's altar vanish from the plain.

Another powerful principle of our nature, which is the spring of war, is the passion for superiority, for triumph, for power. The human mind is aspiring, impatient of inferiority, and eager for preeminence and control.

The spirit of liberty is not merely, as multitudes imagine, a jealousy of our own particular rights, but a respect for the rights of others, and an unwillingness that any man, whether high or low, should be wronged and trampled under foot.

We must not waste life in devising means. It is better to plan less and do more.