There is no doubt such a thing as chance, but I see no reason why Providence should not make use of it.

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.

I know not that there is anything in nature more soothing to the mind than the contemplation of the moon, sailing, like some planetary bark, amidst a sea of bright azure. The subject is certainly hackneyed; the moon has been sung by poet and poetaster. Is there any marvel that it should be so?

We must calculate not on the weather, nor on fortune, but upon God and ourselves. He may fail us in the gratification of our wishes, but never in the encounter with our exigencies.

It should console us for the fact that sin has not totally disappeared from the world, that the saints are not wholly deprived of employment.

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

Tears are the natural penalties of pleasure. It is a law that we should pay for all that we enjoy.