There is nothing so remote from vanity as true genius. It is almost as natural for those who are endowed with the highest powers of the human mind to produce the miracles of art, as for other men to breathe or move. Correggio, who is said to have produced some of his divinest works almost without having seen a picture, probably did not know that he had done anything extraordinary.

Do not quarrel with the world too soon; for, bad as it may be, it is the best we have to live in, here. If railing would have made it better, it would have been reformed long ago.

The insolence of the vulgar is in proportion to their ignorance. They treat everything with contempt which they do not understand.

Reflection makes men cowards.

If you give an audience a chance they will do half your acting for you.

The great requisite for the prosperous management of ordinary business is the want of imagination.

Human life may be regarded as a succession of frontispieces. The way to be satisfied is never to look back.