“To the composition of novels and romances, nothing is necessary but paper, pens, and ink, with the manual capacity of using them.”

There’s one fool at least in every married couple.

I describe not men, but manners; not an individual, but a species.

Enough is equal to a feast.

There is not in the universe a more ridiculous, nor a more contemptible animal, than a proud clergyman.

There cannot be a move glorious object in creation than a human being replete with benevolence, meditating in what manner he might render himself most acceptable to his Creator by doing most good to His creatures.

Fashion is the science of appearance, and it inspires one with the desire to seem rather than to be.

Good-humor will even go so far as often to supply the lack of wit.

In a debate, rather pull to pieces the argument of thy antagonists than offer him any of thy own; for thus thou wilt fight him in his own country.

When mighty roast beef was the Englishman’s food It ennobled our hearts and enriched our blood– Our soldiers were brave and our courtiers were good. Oh! the roast beef of England. And Old England’s roast beef.

Love may be likened to a disease in this respect, that when it is denied a vent in one part, it will certainly break out in another; hence what a woman’s lips often conceal, her eyes, her blushes, and many little involuntary actions betray.

What a silly fellow must he be who would do the devil’s work for free.

Wine is a turncoat; first a friend and then an enemy.

Custom may lead a man into many errors; but it justifies none.

However exquisitely human nature may have been described by writers, the true practical system can be learned only in the world.

There are two considerations which always imbitter the heart of an avaricious man–the one is a perpetual thirst after more riches, the other the prospect of leaving what he has already acquired.

We are as liable to be corrupted by books, as by companions.

Through the sacred art of pausing, we develop the capacity to stop hiding, to stop running away from our experience. We begin to trust in our natural intelligence, in our naturally wise heart, in our capacity to open to whatever arises.

Genius is the capacity of avoiding hard work.

Confidence in the human capacity for problem solving, for invention, for innovation.

Too much of the education system orients students toward becoming better thinkers, but there is almost no focus on our capacity to pay attention and cultivate awareness.

Part of knowing how to think is knowing how the laws of nature shape the world around us. Without that knowledge, without that capacity to think, you can easily become a victim of people who seek to take advantage of you.

But he could not renounce his infinite capacity for illusion at the very moment he needed it most… he saw fireflies where there were none.

Love is based on our capacity to trust in a reality beyond fear, to trust a timeless truth bigger than all our difficulties.

Make yourself a “capacity” and I will make myself a “torrent.”