When I take up a book I have read before, I know what to expect; the satisfaction is not lessened by being anticipated. I shake hands with, and look our old tried and valued friend in the face, – compare notes and chat the hour away.
The more we do, the more we can do; the more busy we are, the more leisure we have.
A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles.
I’m not smart, but I like to observe. Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.
We are fonder of visiting our friends in health than in sickness. We judge less favorably of their characters when any misfortune happens to them; and a lucky hit, either in business or reputation, improves even their personal appearance in our eyes.
A great mind is one that can forget or look beyond itself.
Rules and models destroy genius and art.
The way to procure insults is to submit to them. A man meets with no more respect than he exacts.
No wise man can have a contempt for the prejudices of others; and he should even stand in a certain awe of his own, as if they were aged parents and monitors. They may in the end prove wiser than he.
To be capable of steady friendship or lasting love, are the two greatest proofs, not only of goodness of heart, but of strength of mind.
Vice, like disease, floats in the atmosphere.
The art of life is to know how to enjoy a little and to endure very much.
Life is the art of being well deceived; and in order that the deception may succeed it must be habitual and uninterrupted.
Persons who undertake to pry into, or cleanse out all the filth of a common sewer, either cannot have very nice noses, or will soon lose them.
Prejudice is the child of ignorance.
If the world were good for nothing else, it is a fine subject for speculation.
As is our confidence, so is our capacity.
Grace is the absence of everything that indicates pain or difficulty, hesitation or incongruity.
The dupe of friendship, and the fool of love; have I not reason to hate and to despise myself? Indeed I do; and chiefly for not having hated and despised the world enough.
Defoe says that there were a hundred thousand country fellows in his time ready to fight to the death against popery, without knowing whether popery was a man or a horse.