His enemies might have said before that he talked rather too much; but now he has occasional flashes of silence, that make his conversation perfectly delightful.
It is no more necessary that a man should remember the different dinners and suppers which have made him healthy, than the different books which have made him wise. Let us see the results of good food in a strong body, and the results of great reading in a full and powerful mind.
Have the courage to be ignorant of a great number of things, in order to avoid the calamity of being ignorant of everything.
The two women exchanged the type of glance women use when there is no knife handy.
The longer I live, the more I am convinced that the apothecary is of more importance than Seneca; and that half the unhappiness in the world proceeds from little stoppages; from a duct choked up, from food pressing in the wrong place, from a vexed duodenum, or an agitated pylorus.
Human beings cling to their delicious tyrannies and to their exquisite nonsense, till death stares them in the face.
Solitude cherishes great virtues and destroys little ones.
How can a bishop marry? How can he flirt? The most he can say is “I will see you in the vestry after service.”
Hope is the belief, more or less strong, that joy will come.
You will find people ready enough to do the Samaritan without the oil and twopence.
What two ideas are more inseparable than beer and Britannia?
A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage.
What would life be without arithmetic, but a scene of horrors?
Let the Dean and Canons lay their heads together and the thing will be done.
I look upon Switzerland as an inferior sort of Scotland.
Errors, to be dangerous, must have a great deal of truth mingled with them. It is only from this alliance that they can ever obtain an extensive circulation.
Find fault when you must find fault in private, and if possible sometime after the offense, rather than at the time.
Among the smaller duties of life I hardly know any one more important than that of not praising where praise is not due.
Manners are like the shadows of virtues, they are the momentary display of those qualities which our fellow creatures love and respect.
Do not try to push your way through to the front ranks of your profession; do not run after distinctions and rewards; but do your utmost to find an entry into the world of beauty.