To feel oppressed by obligation is only to prove that we are incapable of a proper sentiment of gratitude. To receive favors from the unworthy is simply to admit that our selfishness is superior to our pride. Most men remember obligations, but not often to be grateful for them. The proud are made sour by the remembrance and the vain silent.
William Gilmore SimmsTears are the natural penalties of pleasure. It is a law that we should pay for all that we enjoy.
William Gilmore SimmsNo doubt solitude is wholesome, but so is abstinence after a surfeit. The true life of man is in society.
William Gilmore SimmsVanity is so constantly solicitous of self, that even where its own claims are not interested, it indirectly seeks the aliment which it loves, by showing how little is deserved by others.
William Gilmore SimmsThe effect of character is always to command consideration. We sport and toy and laugh with men or women who have none, but we never confide in them.
William Gilmore Simms