To have respect for ourselves guides our morals; and to have a deference for others governs our manners.

The desire of knowledge, like the thirst of riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it.

One may as well be asleep as to read for anything but to improve his mind and morals, and regulate his conduct.

Only the brave know how to forgive; it is the most refined and generous pitch of virtue human nature can arrive at.

I am persuaded that every time a man smiles - but much more so when he laughs - it adds something to this fragment of life.

In solitude the mind gains strength and learns to lean upon itself.