Whenever a man’s friends begin to compliment him about looking young, he may be sure that they think he is growing old

A woman never forgets her sex. She would rather talk with a man than an angel, any day.

Her mighty lakes, like oceans of liquid silver; her mountains, with bright aerial tints; her valleys, teeming with wild fertility; her tremendous cataracts, thundering in their solitudes; her boundless plains, waving with spontaneous verdure; her...

He is the true enchanter, whose spell operates, not upon the senses, but upon the imagination and the heart.

There is a healthful hardiness about real dignity that never dreads contact and communion with others however humble.

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she...

A sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener with constant use.

Christmas! ‘Tis the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial fire of charity in the heart

The land of literature is a fairy land to those who view it at a distance, but, like all other landscapes, the charm fades on a nearer approach, and the thorns and briars become visible

There are certain half-dreaming moods of mind in which we naturally steal away from noise and glare, and seek some quiet haunt where we may indulge our reveries and build our air castles undisturbed.

A tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.

Young lawyers attend the courts, not because they have business there, but because they have no business.

But a wide sea voyage severs us at once. It makes us conscious of being cast loose from the secure anchorage of settled life, and sent adrift upon a doubtful world. It interposes a gulf,...

A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles.

A barking dog is often more useful than a sleeping lion.

After all, it is the divinity within that makes the divinity without; and I have been more fascinated by a woman of talent and intelligence, though deficient in personal charms, than I have been by...

He is indeed the true enchanter, whose spell operates, not upon the senses, but upon the imagination and the heart.

Honest good humor is the oil and wine of a merry meeting, and there is no jovial companionship equal to that where the jokes are rather small and laughter abundant.

The natural principle of war is to do the most harm to our enemy with the least harm to ourselves; and this of course is to be effected by stratagem.

Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.

An inexhaustible good nature is one of the most precious gifts of heaven, spreading itself like oil over the troubled sea of thought, and keeping the mind smooth and equable in the roughest weather.

A woman’s whole life is a history of the affections. The heart is her world: it is there her ambition strives for empire; it is there her avarice seeks for hidden treasures. She sends forth...

There is nothing in England that exercises a more delightful spell over my imagination than the lingerings of the holiday customs and rural games of former times. They recall the pictures my fancy used to...

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness but of power. They are messengers of overwhelming grief and of unspeakable love.

I am always at a loss at how much to believe of my own stories.

The easiest thing to do, whenever you fail, is to put yourself down by blaming your lack of ability for your misfortunes.

There is never jealousy where there is not strong regard

Ay, go to the grave of buried love and meditate! There settle the account with thy conscience for every past benefit unrequited – every past endearment unregarded, of that departed being, who can never, never,...