Happiness in this world consists in something to love, useful work to do, and something to hope for. Of so little weight are the greatest Services to Princes, when put into the Ballance with a refusal to gratify their Passions. Care and Vigilance, with a very common Understanding, may preserve a Man's Goods from Thieves, but Honesty has no fence against superior Cunning. Providence never intended to make the Management of publick Affairs a Mystery, to be comprehended only by a few Persons of sublime Genius, of which there seldom are three born in an Age. Among People of Quality a Wife should be always a reasonable and agreeable Companion, because she cannot always be young.
Nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison.
Men are never so Serious, Thoughtful, and Intent, as when they are at Stool. Tut, I should have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the firmament twinkled on my bastardizing. King Lear , Act I, Scene ii. Men whose circumstances will permit tham to choose their own way of life are inexcusable if they do not pursue that which their judgment tells them is the most laudable. The voice of reason is more to be regarded than the bent of any present inclination, since, by the rule above mentioned, inclination will at length come over to reason, though we can never force reason to comply with inclination.