Poetry is only the highest eloquence of passion, the most vivid form of expression that can be given to our conception of anything, whether pleasurable or painful, mean or dignified, delightful or distressing. It is the perfect coincidence of the image and the words with the feeling we have, and of which we cannot get rid in any other way, that gives an instant "satisfaction to the thought." This is equally the origin of wit and fancy, of comedy and tragedy, of the sublime and pathetic.

Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater. Possession pampers the mind; privation trains and strengthens it.

Life is the art of being well deceived; and in order that the deception may succeed it must be habitual and uninterrupted.

Those who are at war with others are not at peace with themselves.

We are all of us, more or less, the slaves of opinion.

To create an unfavorable impression, it is not necessary that certain things should be true, but that they have been said.

Man is a make-believe animal: he is never so truly himself as when he is acting a part.