The love of fame is almost another name for the love of excellence; or it is the ambition to attain the highest excellence, sanctioned by the highest authority, that of time.

When I take up a book I have read before, I know what to expect; the satisfaction is not lessened by being anticipated. I shake hands with, and look our old tried and valued friend in the face,--compare notes and chat the hour away.

We are very much what others think of us. The reception our observations meet with gives us courage to proceed, or damps our efforts.

The definition of genius is that it acts unconsciously, and those who have produced immortal works have done so without knowing how or why.

Our energy is in proportion to the resistance it meets.

Language, if it throws a veil over our ideas, adds a softness and refinement to them, like that which the atmosphere gives to naked objects.

The last pleasure in life is the sense of discharging our duty.