Common sense is only a modification of talent. Genius is an exaltation of it. The difference is, therefore, in degree, not nature.

Books are but waste paper unless we spend in action the wisdom we get from thought

Ignorance of one's misfortunes is clear gain.

Curiosity is one of the lowest of the human faculties. You will have noticed in daily life that when people are inquisitive they nearly always have bad memories and are usually stupid at bottom.

At night, when the curtains are drawn and the fire flickers, my books attain a collective dignity.

A fool flatters himself, a wise man flatters the fool.