The 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.

Distinction is an eminence that is attained but too frequently at the expense of a fireside.

The fool is willing to pay for anything but wisdom. No man buys that of which he supposes himself to have an abundance already.

Genius is the very eye of intellect and the wing of thought; it is always in advance of its time, and is the pioneer for the generation which it precedes.

Better that we should err in action than wholly refuse to perform. The storm is so much better than the calm, as it declares the presence of a living principle. Stagnation is something worse than death. It is corruption also.

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.

Not in sorrow freely is never to open the bosom to the sweets of the sunshine.