We are always doing something for posterity, but I would fain see posterity do something for us.
Justice is an unassailable fortress, built on the brow of a mountain which cannot be overthrown by the violence of torrents, nor demolished by the force of armies.
A contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.
The utmost extent of man's knowledge, is to know that he knows nothing.
Admiration is a very short-lived passion, that immediately decays upon growing familiar with its object.
The chief ingredients in the composition of those qualities that gain esteem and praise, are good nature, truth, good sense, and good breeding.
What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul.
It is folly for an eminent man to think of escaping censure, and a weakness to be affected with it. All the illustrious persons of antiquity, and indeed of every age in the world, have passed through this fiery persecution.
There is not so variable a thing in nature as a lady's head-dress.
Modesty is not only an ornament, but also a guard to virtue.
A woman seldom asks advice before she has bought her wedding clothes.
With regard to donations always expect the most from prudent people, who keep their own accounts.
I have somewhere met with the epitaph on a charitable man which has pleased me very much. I cannot recollect the words, but here is the sense of it: 'What I spent I lost; what I possessed is left to others; what I gave away remains with me.'
I will indulge my sorrows, and give way to all the pangs and fury of despair.
Those Marriages generally abound most with Love and Constancy, that are preceded by a long Courtship.
To say that authority, whether secular or religious, supplies no ground for morality is not to deny the obvious fact that it supplies a sanction.
Everything that is new or uncommon raises a pleasure in the imagination, because it fills the soul with an agreeable surprise, gratifies its curiosity, and gives it an idea of which it was not before possessed.
Plenty of people wish to become devout, but no one wishes to be humble.
Sunday clears away the rust of the whole week.
Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind, which are delivered down from generation to generation as presents to the posterity of those who are yet unborn.
If we may believe our logicians, man is distinguished from all other creatures by the faculty of laughter. He has a heart capable of mirth, and naturally disposed to it.
True happiness arises, in the first place, from the enjoyment of one's self, and in the next, from the friendship and conversation of a few select companions.
That he delights in the misery of others no man will confess, and yet what other motive can make a father cruel?
Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
A man must be both stupid and uncharitable who believes there is no virtue or truth but on his own side.
If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.
Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health and is as friendly to the mind as to the body.
What pity is it That we can die, but once to serve our country.
There is nothing that makes its way more directly into the soul than beauty.
The greatest sweetener of human life is Friendship. To raise this to the highest pitch of enjoyment, is a secret which but few discover.
To be perfectly just is an attribute of the divine nature; to be so to the utmost of our abilities, is the glory of man.
Their is no defense against criticism except obscurity.
A man should always consider how much he has more than he wants.
Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life.
Mysterious love, uncertain treasure, hast thou more of pain or pleasure! Endless torments dwell about thee: Yet who would live, and live without thee!