"It is in this power of saying everything, and yet saying nothing too plainly, that the perfection of art consists."

"Some slaves are scoured to their work by whips, others by their restlessness and ambition."

"Education is the leading of human souls to what is best, and making what is best out of them."

"He who can take no interest in what is small, will take false interest in what is great…; he who cannot make a bank sublime, will make a mountain ridiculous."

"Satan, really, is the romantic youth of Jesus re-appearing for a moment."

"Parents wonder why the streams are bitter, when they themselves have poisoned the fountain."

"Anoint, v.: To grease a king or other great functionary already sufficiently slippery."

"A heart touched by genuine kindness never loses its warmth. In this truth lies the bedrock of all virtue — an essential principle for the reflective life."