If mankind had wished for what is right, they might have had it long ago.

The most phlegmatic dispositions often contain the most inflammable spirits, as fire is struck from the hardest flints.

It is the vice of scholars to suppose that there is no knowledge in the world but that of books.

The garb of religion is the best cloak for power.

In some situations, if you say nothing, you are called dull; if you talk, you are thought impertinent and arrogant. It is hard to know what to do in this case. The question seems to be, whether your vanity or your prudence predominates.

To impress the idea of power on others, they must be made in some way to feel it.

The present is an age of talkers, and not of doers; and the reason is, that the world is growing old. We are so far advanced in the Arts and Sciences, that we live in retrospect, and dote on past achievement.