History is the transformation of tumultuous conquerors into silent footnotes.

And sheathed their swords for lack of argument. -King Henry V. Act iii. Sc. 1.

We are but as the instrument of Heaven. Our work is not design, but destiny.

God's Wisdom and God's Goodness!--Ah, but fools Mis-define thee, till God knows them no more. Wisdom and goodness they are God!--what schools Have yet so much as heard this simpler lore. This no Saint preaches, and this no Church rules: 'Tis in the desert, now and heretofore.

Good taste is the first refuge of the non-creative. It is the last-ditch stand of the artist.

Our opportunities to do good are our talents.

He's a sure card.

Better to have loved a short man than never to have loved a tall.

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' , but 'That's funny...' -Isaac Asimov.

Let me take you a button-hole lower. -Love's Labour 's Lost. Act v. Sc. 2.

The American wage earner and the American housewife are a lot better economists than most economists care to admit. They know that a government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.

All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.

The acquiring of culture is the development of an avid hunger for knowledge and beauty.

The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them up.

Continuing a Lenten series on prayer: Prayer opens the understanding to the brightness of Divine Light, and the will to the warmth of Heavenly Love -- nothing can so effectually purify the mind from its many ignorances, or the will from its perverse affections. It is as a healing water which causes the roots of our good desires to send forth fresh shoots, which washes away the soul's imperfections, and allays the thirst of passion.

Still to be neat, still to be drest, As you were going to a feast, Still to be powder'd, all perfum'd. Lady, it is to be presumed, Though art's hid causes are not found, All is not sweet, all is not sound.

The system of nature, of which man is a part, tends to be self-balancing, self-adjusting, self-cleansing. Not so with technology.

Death hath so many doors to let out life.

Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out.

A strong nor'wester's blowing, Bill; Hark! don't ye hear it roar now? Lord help 'em, how I pities them Unhappy folks on shore, now.