I am not, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, a good-natured man; that is, many things annoy me besides what interferes with my own ease and interest. I hate a lie; a piece of injustice wounds me to the quick, though nothing but the report of it reach me. Therefore I have made many enemies and few friends; for the public know nothing of well-wishers, and keep a wary eye on those who would reform them.

Every one in a crowd has the power to throw dirt; none out of ten have the inclination.

Almost every sect of Christianity is a perversion of its essence, to accommodate it to the prejudices of the world.

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

The way to get on in the world is to be neither more nor less wise, neither better nor worse than your neighbours.

We can scarcely hate anyone that we know.

Envy is a littleness of soul, which cannot see beyond a certain point, and if it does not occupy the whole space feels itself excluded.