Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider.
The worst solitude is to be destitute of sincere friendship.
Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinions in good men is but knowledge in the making.
They are never alone that are accompanied with noble thoughts.
In silence man can most readily preserve his integrity.
Sow good services; sweet remembrances will grow them.
A thing is not proved just because no one has ever questioned it. What has never been gone into impartially has never been properly gone into. Hence scepticism is the first step toward truth. It must be applied generally, because it is the touchstone.
The worst derangement of the spirit is to believe things because we want them to be so, not because we have seen them for what they are.