It Is Harder To Avoid Censure Than

Methinks I Am Like A Man, Who Having Struck On Many Shoals, And Having Narrowly Escap'd Shipwreck In Passing A Small Frith, Has Yet The Temerity To Put Out To Sea In The Same Leaky Weather-beaten Vessel, And Even Carries His Ambition So Far As To Think Of Compassing The Globe Under These Disadvantageous Circumstances.

Every Movement Of The Theater By A Skilful Poet Is Communicated, As It Were, By Magic, To The Spectators; Who Weep, Tremble, Resent, Rejoice, And Are Inflamed With All The Variety Of Passions Which Actuate The Several Personages Of The Drama.

There Is Nothing, In Itself, Valuable Or Despicable, Desirable Or Hateful, Beautiful Or Deformed; But That These Attributes Arise From The Particular Constitution And Fabric Of Human Sentiment And Affection.

The Whole [of Religion] Is A Riddle, An ænigma, An Inexplicable Mystery. Doubt, Uncertainty, Suspence Of Judgment Appear The Onlyresult Of Our Most Accurate Scrutiny, Concerning This Subject.

Nothing Can Be More Unphilosophical Than To Be Positive Or Dogmatical On Any Subject; And Even If Excessive Scepticism Could Be Maintained It Would Not Be More Destructive To All Just Reasoning And Inquiry. When Men Are The Most Sure And Arrogant, They Are Commonly The Most Mistaken, And Have There Given Reins To Passion, Without That Proper Deliberation And Suspense Which Can Alone Secure Them From The Grossest Absurdities.