We find many things to which the prohibition of them constitutes the only temptation.

Envy is a littleness of soul, which cannot see beyond a certain point, and if it does not occupy the whole space feels itself excluded.

The severest critics are always those who have either never attempted, or who have failed in original composition.

A situation in a public office is secure, but laborious and mechanical, and without the great springs of life, hope and fear.

If mankind had wished for what is right, they might have had it long ago.

It is easier taking the beaten path than making our way over bogs and precipices. The great difficulty in philosophy is to come to every question with a mind fresh and unshackled by former theories, though strengthened by exercise and information.

There is no one thoroughly despicable. We cannot descend much lower than an idiot; and an idiot has some advantages over a wise man.