We learn our virtues from our friends who love us; our faults from the enemy who hates us. We cannot easily discover our real character from a friend. He is a mirror, on which the warmth of our breath impedes the clearness of the reflection.
Variety of mere nothings gives more pleasure than uniformity of something.
Two aged men, that had been foes for life, Met by a grave, and wept - and in those tears They washed away the memory of their strife; Then wept again the loss of all those years.
There is a joy in sorrow which none but a mourner can know.
There are souls which fall from heaven like flowers, but ere they bloom are crushed under the foul tread of some brutal hoof.
There are souls in this world which have the gift of finding joy everywhere and of leaving it behind them when they go.
The more sand that has escaped from the hourglass of our life, the clearer we should see through it.
The darkness of death is like the evening twilight; it makes all objects appear more lovely to the dying.
The conscience of children is formed by the influences that surround them; their notions of good and evil are the result of the moral atmosphere they breathe.
Strong characters are brought out by change of situation, and gentle ones by permanence.
Sorrows gather around great souls as storms do around mountains; but, like them, they break the storm and purify the air of the plain beneath them.
Recollection is the only paradise from which we cannot be turned out.
Poverty is the only load which is the heavier the more loved ones there are to assist in bearing it.
Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time.
Only actions give life strength; only moderation gives it charm.