Dandyism is a species of genius.

What is popular is not necessarily vulgar; and that which we try to rescue from fatal obscurity had in general much better remain where it is.

Refinement creates beauty everywhere. It is the grossness of the spectator that discovers anything like grossness in the object.

We never do anything well till we cease to think about the manner of doing it.

The love of letters is the forlorn hope of the man of letters. His ruling passion is the love of fame.

Sincerity has to do with the connexion between our words and thoughts, and not between our beliefs and actions.

The origin of all science is the desire to know causes, and the origin of all false science is the desire to accept false causes rather than none; or, which is the same thing, in the unwillingness to acknowledge our own ignorance.