The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character.

Ambition

Ambition breaks the ties of blood, and forgets the obligations of gratitude.

Death and Dying

Is death the last step? No, it is the final awakening.

Excellence

There never will exist anything permanently noble and excellent in the character which is a stranger to resolute self-denial.

Participation

One hour of life, crowded to the full with glorious action, and filled with noble risks, is worth whole years of those mean observances of paltry decorum, in which men steal through existence, like sluggish waters through a marsh, without either honor or observation.

Repentance

But with morning cool repentance came.