Our morality seems to be only a check on the ultimate domination of force, just as our politeness is a check on the impulse of every pig to put his feet in the trough.
Certainty generally is illusion, and repose is not the destiny of man.
Liberty is often a heavy burden on a man. It involves the necessity for perpetual choice which is the kind of labor men have always dreaded.
Any new formula which suddenly emerges in our consciousness has its roots in long trains of thought; it is virtually old when it first makes its appearance among the recognized growths of our intellect.
Lord, bid war’s trumpet cease; Fold the whole earth in peace.
There is something frightful in the way in which not only characteristic qualities, but particular manifestations of them, are repeated from generation to generation.
Every man is an omnibus in which his ancestors ride.
Pretty much all law consists in forbidding men to do something that they want to do.
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.