Life is a continued struggle to be what we are not, and to do what we cannot.

When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest.

To-day kings, to-marrow beggars, it is only when they are themselves that they are nothing.

By despising all that has preceded us, we teach others to despise ourselves.

Good temper is one of the great preservers of the features.

Nothing gives such a blow to friendship as the detecting another in an untruth. It strikes at the root of our confidence ever after.

The greatest pleasure in life is that of reading while we are young. I have had as much of this pleasure perhaps as any one.