“No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned. A man in a jail has more room, better food, and commonly better company.”

From thee, great God, we spring, to thee we tend,- Path, motive, guide, original, and end.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing – it only hastens fools to rush in where angels fear to tread.

Our aspirations are our possibilities.

When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.

The majority have no other reason for their opinions than that they are the fashion.

The true art of memory is the art of attention.

Prejudice, not being founded on reason, cannot be removed by argument.

If you are idle, be not solitary; if you are solitary be not idle.

The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.

If a madman were to come into this room with a stick in his hand, no doubt we should pity the state of his mind; but our primary consideration would be to take care of ourselves. We should knock him down first, and pity him afterwards.

A horse that can count to ten is a remarkable horse, not a remarkable mathematician.

Nothing will ever be attempted if all possible objections must first be overcome.

Books like friends, should be few and well-chosen.

Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last.

Sorrow is the mere rust of the soul. Activity will cleanse and brighten it.

There must always be a struggle between a father and son, while one aims at power and the other at independence.