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.

Dr. Johnson was a lazy learned man who liked to think and talk better than to read or write; who, however, wrote much and well, but too often by rote.

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.

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

Silence is one great art of conversation.

Or have I passed my time in pouring words like water into empty sieves, rolling a stone up a hill and then down again, trying to prove an argument in the teeth of facts, and looking for causes in the dark, and not finding them?

A strong passion for any object will ensure success, for the desire of the end will point out the means.