"The first test of a truly great man is his humility. By humility I don't mean doubt of his powers or hesitation in speaking his opinion, but merely an understanding of the relationship of what he can say and what he can do."

"No one can become rich by the efforts of only their toil, but only by the discovery of some method of taxing the labor of others."

"Our duty is to preserve what the past has had to say for itself, and to say for ourselves what shall be true for the future"

"Out of suffering comes the serious mind; out of salvation, the grateful heart; out of endurance, fortitude; out of deliverance faith."

"We have seen when the earth had to be prepared for the habitation of man, a veil, as it were, of intermediate being was spread between him and its darkness, in which were joined in a subdued measure, the stability and insensibility of the earth, and the passion and perishing of mankind."

"Punishment is the last and the least effective instrument in the hands of the legislator for the prevention of crime."

"It is written on the arched sky; it looks out from every star. It is the poetry of Nature; it is that which uplifts the spirit within us."

"A book worth reading is worth buying."

"Music when healthy, is the teacher of perfect order, and when depraved, the teacher of perfect disorder."

"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather."

"Natural abilities can almost compensate for the want of every kind of cultivation, but no cultivation of the mind can make up for the want of natural abilities."

"There is no wealth but life."

"Skill is the unified force of experience, intellect and passion in their operation."

"We require from buildings two kinds of goodness: first, the doing their practical duty well: then that they be graceful and pleasing in doing it."

"Art is not a study of positive reality, it is the seeking for ideal truth."

"Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together."

"A little thought and a little kindness are often worth more than a great deal of money."

"The entire object of true education, is to make people not merely do the right thing, but to enjoy right things; not merely industrious, but to love industry; not merely learned, but to love knowledge."

"Vain, very vain is my search to find; that happiness which only centers in the mind."

"You, that are going to be married, think things can never be done too fast: but we that are old, and know what we are about, must elope methodically, madam."

"Those that think must govern those that toil."

"Who can direct when all pretend to know?"

"The weakest soul, within itself unblest, Leans for all pleasure on another's breast"

"Our pleasures are short, and can only charm at intervals; love is a method of protraction our greatest pleasure."

"The virtue which requires to be ever guarded is scarcely worth the sentinel"

"The very pink of perfection."

"There is nothing so absurd or ridiculous that has not at some time been said by some philosopher. Fontenelle says he would undertake to persuade the whole public of readers to believe that the sun was neither the cause of light or heat, if he could only get six philosophers on his side."

"I chose my wife, as she did her wedding gown, for qualities that would wear well"

"Wisdom makes a slow defense against trouble, though a sure one in the end."

"The land of scholars, and the nurse of arms."

"The malicious sneer is improperly called laughter."

"The loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind."

"The English laws punish vice; the Chinese laws do more, they reward virtue."

"Don't let us make imaginary evils, when you know we have so many real ones to encounter."

"Silence is become his mother tongue."

"The twelve good rules, the royal game of goose."

"By the living jingo, she was all of a muck of sweat."

"Could a man live by it, it were not unpleasant employment to be a poet."

"Every absurdity has a champion to defend it."

"Our greatest glory consists not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall."

"Fortune is ever seen accompanying industry."

"Whenever you see a gaming table be sure to know fortune is not there. Rather she is always in the company of industry."

"If frugality were established in the state, and if our expenses were laid out to meet needs rather than superfluities of life, there might be fewer wants, and even fewer pleasures, but infinitely more happiness."

"In all the silent manliness of grief."

"It seemed to me pretty plain, that they had more of love than matrimony in them."

"Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, and fools, who came to scoff, remained to pray."

"Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, where wealth accumulates, and men decay."

"I was ever of the opinion, that the honest man who married and brought up a large family, did more service than he who continued single, and only talked of population."

"Girls like to be played with, and rumpled a little too, sometimes."

"The jests of the rich are ever successful."