A False Modesty Is The Meanest Species

The Love Of Action Is A Principle Of A Much Stronger And More Doubtful Nature. It Often Leads To Anger, To Ambition, And To Revenge; But When It Is Guided By The Sense Of Propriety And Benevolence, It Becomes The Parent Of Every Virtue, And, If Those Virtues Are Accompanied With Equal Abilities, A Family, A State, Or An Empire May Be Indebted For Their Safety And Prosperity To The Undaunted Courage Of A Single Man.

A Reformer Should Be Exempt From The Suspicion Of Interest, And He Must Possess The Confidence And Esteem Of Those Whom He Proposes To Reclaim.

It Has Always Been My Practice To Cast A Long Paragraph In A Single Mould, To Try It By My Ear, To Deposit It In My Memory, But To Suspend The Action Of The Pen Till I Had Given The Last Polish To My Work.

The Author Himself Is The Best Judge Of His Own Performance; None Has So Deeply Meditated On The Subject; None Is So Sincerely Interested In The Event.

Vicissitudes Of Fortune, Which Spares Neither Man Nor The Proudest Of His Works, Which Buries Empires And Cities In A Common Grave.