The brains of a pedant however full, are vacant.

Good-humor is allied to generosity, ill-humor to meanness.

Good-humor will sometimes conquer ill-humor, but ill-humor will conquer it oftener; and for this plain reason, good-humor must operate on generosity, ill-humor on meanness.

Despair gives the shocking ease to the mind that a mortification gives to the body.

Discernment is a power of the understanding in which few excel. Is not that owing to its connection with impartiality and truth? for are not prejudice and partiality blind?

To divest one's self of some prejudices would be like taking off the skin to feel the better.

Avarice starves its possessor to fatten those who come after, and who are eagerly awaiting the demise of the accumulator.

Envy is but the smoke of low estate, Ascending still against the fortunate.

Our companions please us less from the charms we find in their conversation than from those they find in ours.

What an argument in favor of social connections is the observation that by communicating our grief we have less, and by communicating our pleasure we have more.

A lively and agreeable man has not only the merit of liveliness and agreeableness himself, but that also of awakening them in others.

The degree of loving is measured by the degree of giving.

Love has the mind of a sage, the heart of a saint, and the soul of an angel.

Must it so be that whatever makes man happy must later become the source of his misery?

He swallowed down the dry choking sobs which had been heaving up from his heart hitherto ...

The harp that once through Tara's halls The soul of music shed Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls As if that soul were fled.

Base souls have no faith in great individuals.

What is a normal childhood? We weren't rich, we were pretty middle-class. My dad survived from job to job; with him taking care of so many relatives, he couldn't save any money.

I think it [Brexit] is wonderful.We've got to decide in this country who we are.We made a momentous decision.It's a bit like a prison break.

He may be out of my life physically, but he'll always be a part of me. I can't let go even if I wanted to.

How can you have any regret when everything worked out fine? But why I think it worked out fine is due to the lessons I learned along the way. And one of those involves listening to experts.