Crafty men condemn studies; Simple men admire them; And wise men use them: For they teach not their own use: but that is a wisdom without them, and above them, won by observation.

The mould of a man’s fortune is in his own hands.

Money is a great servant but a bad master.

The desire of excessive power caused the angels to fall; the desire of knowledge caused men to fall.

The wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.

I had rather believe all the fables in the legends and the Talmud and the Alcoran, than that this universal frame is without a mind

Virtue is like precious odours,- most fragrant when they are incensed or crushed.

People of age object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, repent too soon and seldom drive business home to it’s conclusion, but content themselves with a mediocrity of success.

It was prettily devised of Aesop, `The fly sat upon the axle-tree of the chariot-wheel and said, What a dust do I raise’.

The momentous thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good or evil.

Truth is so hard to tell, it sometimes needs fiction to make it plausible.

Sacred and inspired divinity, the sabaoth and port of all men’s labours and peregrinations.

Come home to men’s business and bosoms.

The place of justice is a hallowed place.

Atheism is rather in the life than in the heart of man

Philosophy when superficially studied, excites doubt, when thoroughly explored, it dispels it.

A man that is young in years may be old in hours if he have lost no time.

Croesus said to Cambyses; That peace was better than war; because in peace the sons did bury their fathers, but in wars the fathers did bury their sons

It is the wisdom of the crocodiles, that shed tears when they would devour.

A just fear of an imminent danger, though there be no blow given, is a lawful cause of war

When he wrote a letter, he would put that which was most material in the postscript, as if it had been a by-matter

The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding.

Suspicion amongst thoughts are like bats amongst birds, they never fly by twilight.

Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.

[Knowledge is] a rich storehouse for the glory of the Creator, and the relief of man’s estate.

Seek not proud wealth; but such as thou mayest get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and love contentedly

Imagination was given man to compensate for what he is not, and a sense of humor to console him for what he is.

Who questions much, shall learn much, and retain much.

He that will not apply new remedies, must expect new evils: for Time is the greatest innovator: and if Time, of course, alter things to the worse, and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them...

I would address one general admonition to all, that they consider what are the true ends of knowledge, and that they seek it not either for pleasure of the mind, or for contention, or for...

Young men are fitter to invent than to judge, fitter for execution than for counsel, and fitter for new projects than for settled business.

Oh! death will find me long before I tire of watching you.

Mark what a generosity and courage (a dog) will put on when he finds himself maintained by a man, who to him is instead of a God

Look to make your course regular, that men may know beforehand what they may expect.

Many secrets of art and nature are thought by the unlearned to be magical.

For my name and memory, I leave it to men’s charitable speeches, to foreign nations, and to the next ages.

It is the true office of history to represent the events themselves, together with the counsels, and to leave the observations and conclusions thereupon to the liberty and faculty of every man’s judgment.

A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well

If thou would’st have that stream of hard-earn’d knowledge, of Wisdom heaven-born, remain sweet running waters, thou should’st not leave it to become a stagnant pond.

Nobility of birth commonly abateth industry.

The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power.

For also knowledge itself is power.

It was a good answer that was made by one who when they showed him hanging in a temple a picture of those who had paid their vows as having escaped shipwreck, and would have...

Seek not proud riches, but such as thou mayest get justly, use soberly, distribute cheerfully, and leave contentedly.

The root of all superstition is that men observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses.

Vain-glorious men are the scorn of the wise, the admiration of fools, the idols of paradise, and the slaves of their own vaunts

There be three things which make a nation great and prosperous: a fertile soil, busy workshops, easy conveyance for men and goods from place to place

Cure the disease and kill the patient.

The lame man who keeps the right road outstrips the runner who takes a wrong one. Nay, it is obvious that the more active and swift the latter is the further he will go astray.

Therefore if a man look sharply and attentively, he shall see Fortune; for though she be blind, yet she is not invisible.