Rules and models destroy genius and art.

Elegance is something more than ease; it is more than a freedom from awkwardness or restraint. It implies, I conceive, a precision, a polish, a sparkling, spirited yet delicate.

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

A lively blockhead in company is a public benefit. Silence or dulness by the side of folly looks like wisdom.

There cannot be a surer proof of low origin, or of an innate meanness of disposition, than to be always talking and thinking of being genteel.

Sincerity has to do with the connexion between our words and thoughts, and not between our beliefs and actions.

The smallest pain in our little finger gives us more concern than the destruction of millions of our fellow beings.