Drinking is in reality an occupation which employs a considerable portion of the time of many people; and to conduct it in the most rational and agreeable manner is one of the great arts of living.

No, Sir, claret is the liquor for boys; port for men: but he who aspires to be a hero must drink brandy. In the first place brandy will do soonest for a man what drinking can do for him.

It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time.

I have discovered that we may be in some degree whatever character we choose. Besides, practice forms a man to anything.

My father had declared a predilection for heirs general, that is, males and females indiscriminately.... I, on the other hand, had a zealous partiality for heirs male, however remote.

I, who have no sisters or brothers, look with some degree of innocent envy on those who may be said to be born to friends.

When a man is familiar with many people he must expect many disagreeable familiarizations.

Quotation is more universal and more ancient than one would perhaps believe.

The pleasure of gratifying whim is very great. It is known only by those who are whimsical.

Melancholy cannot be clearly proved to others, so it is better to be silent about it.

It is not every man who can be exquisitely miserable, any more than exquisitely happy.

Being alive and living aren't the same.

... the lofty mind of man can be imprisoned by the artifices of its own making.

Faith never makes a confession.

IQ in general has improved since tests first began. Psychologists think that this is because modern life becomes ever more complicated.

Democracy is constructed like an edifice, freedom by freedom, right by right, until it reaches its snapping point.

Maybe poetry's not so important, but ... it makes life worth living.

Avoid working directly under somebody you don't admire and don't want to be like.

Rapid population growth and technological innovation, combined with our lack of understanding about how the natural systems of which we are a part work, have created a mess.

I love animals. When I was young, I had two St. Bernards, I still have a dog, I have a lot of cats in my company. My wife always says, "You spend a lot of money on animals. More than even me!"

I'm sin, but I'm not the devil.