We are told truly that meekness and modesty are the rich and charming garments of the soul. The less showy our outward attire is, the more distinctly and brilliantly does the beauty of these inner garments shine.
You are Englishmen; mind your privileges, give not away your right.
The unspoken word never defeats one. What one does not say does not have to be explained.
No religion is better than an unnatural one.
Disappointments that aren’t a result of our own foolishness are a testing of our faith or a correction from heaven, and it is our own fault if these disappointments don’t work for our own good.
The Remedy often proves worse than the Disease.
A vain man is a nauseous creature: he is so full of himself that he has no room for anything else, be it never so good or deserving.
Government seems to me to be a part of religion itself – a thing sacred in its institutions and ends.
Inquire often, but judge rarely, and thou wilt not often be mistaken.
Method goes far to prevent trouble in business: for it makes the task easy, hinders confusion, saves abundance of time, and instructs those that have business depending, both what to do and what to hope.
It were endless to dispute upon everything that is disputable.
The Country is both the Philosopher’s Garden and his Library, in which he Reads and Contemplates the Power, Wisdom and Goodness of God.
But make not more business necessary than is so; and rather lessen than augment work for thyself.
I shall pass through life but once. Let me show kindness now, as I shall not pass this way again.
Make few resolutions, but keep them strictly.
It is a cruel folly to offer up to ostentation so many lives of creatures, as to make up the state of our treats.
To be innocent is to be not guilty; but to be virtuous is to overcome our evil inclinations.
That plenty should produce either covetousness or prodigality is a perversion of providence; and yet the generality of men are the worse for their riches.
It is the difference betwixt lust and love that this is fixed, that volatile. Love grows, lust wastes by enjoyment.
Friendship is the union of spirits...