The world is always ready to receive talent with open arms. Very often it does not know what to do with genius.
The nearer you come into relation with a person, the more necessary do tact and courtesy become.
Even the wisest woman you talk to is ignorant of something you may know, but an elegant woman never forgets her elegance.
If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, I would not pass it around. Trouble creates a capacity to handle it.
A good soldier, like a good horse, cannot be of a bad color.
The minute a phrase, becomes current, it becomes an apology for not thinking accurately to the end of the sentence.
There are three natural anaesthetics: Sleep, fainting, and death.
Sin has many tools, but a lie is the handle that fits them all.
Society is always trying in some way to grind us down to a single flat surface.
The noblest service comes from nameless hands; and the best servant does his work unseen.
The axis of the earth sticks out visibly through the center of each and every town or city.
We are all tattooed in our cradles with the beliefs of our tribe; the record may seem superficial, but it is indelible.
Young men know the rules, but old men know the exceptions.
The worst of a modern stylish mansion is that it has no place for ghosts.
Science is the topography of ignorance. From a few elevated points we triangulate vast spaces, inclosing infinite unknown details. We cast the lead, and draw up a little sand from abysses we may never reach with our dredges.
There was never an idea started that woke up men out of their stupid indifference but its originator was spoken of as a crank.
It is very grand to die in harness, but it is very pleasant to have the tight straps unbuckled and the heavy collar lifted from the neck and shoulders.
To think great thoughts you must be heroes as well as idealists.
Every real thought on every real subject knocks the wind out of somebody or other.
The root of joy, as of duty, is to put all one’s powers towards some great end.