As naturally as the oak bears an acorn and the vine a gourd, man bears a poem, either spoken or done.
Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.
Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.
Wherever there is a channel for water, there is a road for the canoe.
A man cannot be said to succeed in this life who does not satisfy one friend.
It is not part of a true culture to tame tigers, any more than it is to make sheep ferocious.
It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.
There are moments when all anxiety and stated toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature.
It is an interesting question how far men would retain their relative rank if they were divested of their clothes.
It is the greatest of all advantages to enjoy no advantage at all.
O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.
I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, and obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board.
People die of fright and live of confidence.
They take great pride in making their dinner cost much; I take my pride in making my dinner cost so little.
One cannot too soon forget his errors and misdemeanors. To dwell long upon them is to add to the offense.
Music is perpetual, and only the hearing is intermittent.
When I read some of the rules for speaking and writing the English language correctly, I think any fool can make a rule, and every fool will mind it.
Law never made men a whit more just.
That grand old poem called Winter.
Haste makes waste, no less in life than in housekeeping.