I have a much greater ambition to be the best racket player than the best prose writer.

A proud man is satisfied with his own good opinion, and does not seek to make converts to it.

Greatness is great power, producing great effects. It is not enough that a man has great power in himself, he must shew it to all the world in a way that cannot be hid or gainsaid.

In what we really understand, we reason but little.

Despair swallows up cowardice.

One of the pleasantest things in the world is going on a journey; I can enjoy society in a room; but out of doors, nature is company enough for me. I am then never less alone than when alone.

The most rational cure after all for the inordinate fear of death is to set a just value on life.