Meditation is the soul's perspective glass.

Every man should study conciseness in speaking; it is a sign of ignorance not to know that long speeches, though they may please the speaker, are the torture of the hearer.

He who would be singular in his apparel had need have something superlative to balance that affectation.

Negligence is the rust of the soul that corrodes through all her best resolves.

The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means and the exercise of ordinary qualities. These may for the most part be summed up in these two - common sense and perseverance.

Promises may get friends, but it is performance that must nurse and keep them.

It is much safer to reconcile an enemy than to conquer him; victory may deprive him of his poison, but reconciliation of his will.

To trust God when we have securities in our iron chest is easy, but not thankworthy; but to depend on him for what we cannot see, as it is more hard for man to do, so it is more acceptable to God.

There is no belittling worse than to over praise a man.

Where there is plenty, charity is a duty, not a courtesy

Virtue is the truest liberty.

Overload of information does not ensure education.

After a taste of a Scot, you'll never look elsewhere again."A brunette smiled seductively, "That's quite a boast.""I'm quite a man.

But feelings can't be ignored, no matter how unjust or ungrateful they seem.

Original sin is a very commercial idea, ” said Duyckinck. “How do you think the Bible stays in print year after year?

The economic and technological changes are real, but I just can't bring myself to wax apocalyptic about the future of books.

Wickedness is its own punishment.

With love, even the rocks will open.

If the KKK was smart enough, they would've created gangsta rap because it's such a caricature of black culture and black masculinity.

Since it's fiction, the book resonates, at least for me, on various levels, some of which intimate ideas about history but none of which have the kind of directly causal reasoning you cite.

The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means.