I hate a style, as I do a garden, that is wholly flat and regular; that slides along like an eel, and never rises to what one can call an inequality.

There is nothing more universally commended than a fine day; the reason is that people can commend it without envy.

However, I think a plain space near the eye gives it a kind of liberty it loves; and then the picture, whether you choose the grand or beautiful, should be held up at its proper distance. Variety is the principal ingredient in beauty; and simplicity is essential to grandeur.

A large retinue upon a small income, like a large cascade upon a small stream, tends to discover its tenuity.

Jealousy is the fear or apprehension of superiority: envy our uneasiness under it.

The fund of sensible discourse is limited; that of jest and badinerie is infinite.

The most reserved of men, that will not exchange two syllables together in an English coffee-house, should they meet at Ispahan, would drink sherbet and eat a mess of rice together.