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

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.

A page of my journal is like a cake of portable soup. A little may be diffused into a considerable portion.

Sea-foam And coral! Oh, I'll Climb the great pasture rocks And dream me mermaid in the sun's Gold flood.

The paradox of anti-Semitism is that it is invariably up to the Jews to explain away the charges. The anti-Semite simply has to make them.

Breathing is underrated.

When there are two PhD's in a developing country one is Head of State and the other is in exile.

A society that does not correctly interpret and appreciate its past cannot understand its present fortunes and adversities and can be caught unawares in a fast changing world.

Love is family, support, priority, and understanding.

Politics in a democracy is transactional: Politicians seek votes by promising to do things for voters, who seek promises in exchange for their votes.

Hollow commitments to action in the future are insufficient. Deferring difficult issues must not be tolerated. Our children and grandchildren expect us to speak and act decisively.

Behind the scenes there is a secretive, undeclared war of revenge that's already under way.

Hell is having to execute a pointless act from which nothing ever comes except the need to do it again.