Modesty is policy, no less than virtue.

The only true source of politeness is consideration.

Tact is one of the first of mental virtues, the absence of which is frequently fatal to the best of talents. Without denying that it is a talent of itself, it will suffice if we admit that it supplies the place of many talents.

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.

Stagnation is something worse than death. It is corruption, also.

He who would acquire fame must not show himself afraid of censure. The dread of censure is the death of genius.

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