Society is a more level surface than we imagine. Wise men or absolute fools are hard to be met with, as there are few giants or dwarfs.

We grow tired of everything but turning others into ridicule, and congratulating ourselves on their defects.

The most phlegmatic dispositions often contain the most inflammable spirits, as fire is struck from the hardest flints.

People of genius do not excel in any profession because they work in it, they work in it because they excel.

Principle is a passion for truth.

The humblest painter is a true scholar; and the best of scholars the scholar of nature.

Envy is littleness of soul.