The mind wears the colors of the soul, as a valet those of his master.
The world has no sympathy with any but positive griefs. It will pity you for what you lose; never for what you lack
Death is the justification of all the ways of the Christian, the last end of all his sacrifices, the touch of the Great Master which completes the picture.
Respect is a serious thing in him who feels it, and the height of honor for him who inspires the feeling.
Loving souls are like paupers. They live on what is given them.
Liberty must be a mighty thing; for by it God punishes and rewards nations.
Attention is a silent and perpetual flattery.
He who has never denied himself for the sake of giving has but glanced at the joys of charity.
To reveal imprudently the spot where we are most sensitive and vulnerable is to invite a blow. The demigod Achilles admitted no one to his confidence.
Our faults afflict us more than our good deeds console. Pain is ever uppermost in the conscience as in the heart.
God has prohibited despair.
Consolation heaps without contact; somewhat like the blessed air which we need but to breathe.
The best of lessons, for a good many people, would be to listen at a keyhole. It is a pity for such that the practice is dishonorable.
Antiquity is a species of aristocracy with which it is not easy to be on visiting terms.
Old age is not one of the beauties of creation, but it is one of its harmonies. The law of contrasts is one of the laws of beauty. Under the conditions of our climate, shadow gives light its worth; sternness enhances mildness; solemnity, splendor. Varying proportions of size support and subserve one another.
Life grows darker as we go on, till only one pure light is left shining on it; and that is faith. Old age, like solitude and sorrow, has its revelations.
Let us not fail to scatter along our pathway the seeds of kindness and sympathy. Some of them will doubtless perish; but if one only lives, it will perfume our steps and rejoice our eyes.
Silence is like nightfall. Objects are lost in it insensibly.
A good, finished scandal, fully armed and equipped, such as circulates in the world, is rarely the production of a single individual, or even of a single coterie. It sees the light in one; is rocked and nurtured in another; is petted, developed, and attains its growth in a third; and receives its finishing touches only after passing through a multitude of hands. It is a child that can count a host of fathers--all ready to disown it.
I can understand the things that afflict mankind, but I often marvel at God those which console. An atom may wound, but God alone can heal.
In this world of change naught which comes stays and naught which goes is lost.
The symptoms of compassion and benevolence, in some people, are like those minute guns which warn you that you are in deadly peril.
Indulgence is lovely in the sinless; toleration, adorable in the pious and believing heart.
Men are always invoking justice; yet it is justice which should make them tremble.
Providence has hidden a charm in difficult undertakings, which is appreciated only by those who dare to grapple with them.
