Washington Irving

"To be wise with speed is the privilege of the few; to be foolish with dispatch is the prerogative of the many."

"Music is the universal language; it needs no interpretation, for all hearts understand it."

"The dullest eye is that of the man who sees without love."

"True greatness lies in simplicity and goodness of heart."

"Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore cruelty and fear form a part of every tyrant's equipment."

"The poor man cries, the rich man sighs; both have their disquiets."

"There is nothing so powerful as truth, and often nothing so strange."

"A well-governed appetite is the greatest blessing that man can enjoy."

"The power of the mind over the body, when properly understood, is a science and an art."

"In matters of moment, great men are generally not disposed to be precipitate in decision."

"The highest compliment that can be paid to a man is the confidence of his country."

"Literature is the expression of life; it is a mirror of the society in which it is produced."

"Solitude is the best nurse of wisdom; conversation, of eloquence."

"The most memorable events are often the most ordinary in appearance."

"Imagination is the liveliest faculty of the human mind, and the most prone to error."

"A man who is active and moving will always find more to do than one who is idle."

"The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, but the kind of man the country turns out."

"Nature has marked out a path for every man, and the wise man follows the path that nature has marked for him."

"The pursuit of happiness is the pursuit of virtue; they are inseparable."

"Justice is the insurance which we effect against the commission of crime."

"There is a fascination in every true endeavor to communicate something useful to mankind."

"The most eloquent silence is that which succeeds the wildest outbreak of passion."

"A man's true wealth is the good he does in the world."

"Learning is the most powerful engine of personal development."

"The measure of a man's character is what he does when the whole world is watching, and what he does when no one is."

"Beware of the fury of a patient man, for his wrath is terrible when kindled."

"The pen is indeed mightier than the sword; it achieves revolutions and reforms which the sword cannot reach."

"Every moment we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again."

"In family relations, the greatest gift is the presence of love and the absence of judgment."

"The grandeur of nature lies not in its vastness, but in its delicacy and detail."