We are governed by sympathy; and the extent of our sympathy is determined by that of our sensibility

No man is truly great who is great only in his lifetime. The test of greatness is the page of history.

Books are a world in themselves, it is true; but they are not the only world. The world itself is a volume larger than all the libraries in it.

We find many things to which the prohibition of them constitutes the only temptation.

Habit in most cases hardens and encrusts by taking away the keener edge of our sensations: but does it not in others quicken and refine, by giving a mechanical facility and by engrafting an acquired sense?

Painting gives the object itself; poetry what it implies. Painting embodies what a thing contains in itself; poetry suggests what exists out of it, in any manner connected with it.

Familiarity confounds all traits of distinction; interest and prejudice take away the power of judging.