“Our humanity is a poor thing, except for the divinity that stirs within us.”
“Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.”
“I do not believe that any man fears to be dead, but only the stroke of death.”
“The genius, wit, and the spirit of a nation are discovered by their proverbs.”
“There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.”
“It is as hard and severe a thing to be a true politician as to be truly moral.”
“Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable.”
“The French are wiser than they seem, and the Spaniards seem wiser than they are.”
“Many a man's strength is in opposition, and when he faileth, he grows out of use.”
“Wives are young men's mistresses; companions for middle age, and old men's nurses.”
“They are ill discoverers that think there is no land when they see nothing but sea.”
“Suspicion amongst thoughts are like bats amongst birds, they never fly by twilight.”
“Look to make your course regular, that men may know beforehand what they may expect.”
“It is a miserable state of mind to have few things to desire and many things to fear.”
“Small amounts of philosophy lead to atheism, but larger amounts bring us back to God.”
“God almighty first planted a garden: and, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasure.”
“Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New.”
“A sudden bold and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open.”
“If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world.”
“Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.”
“Pictures and shapes are but secondary objects and please or displease only in the memory.”
“Of great wealth there is no real use, except in its distribution, the rest is just conceit.”
“Some books are to be tasted; others to be swallowed; and some few to be chewed and digested.”
“Fortune is like the market, where, many times, if you can stay a little, the price will fall.”
“Philosophy when superficially studied, excites doubt, when thoroughly explored, it dispels it.”
“Nuptial love makes mankind; friendly love perfects it; but wanton love corrupts and debases it.”
“Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; adversity not without many comforts and hopes.”
“Houses are built to live in, and not to look on: therefore let use be preferred before uniformity.”
“Write down the thoughts of the moment. Those that come unsought for are commonly the most valuable.”
“Fame is like a river, that beareth up things light and swollen, and drowns things weighty and solid.”