“In all my wanderings through this world of care,In all my griefs -- and God has given my share --I still had hopes, my latest hours to crown,Amidst these humble bowers to lay me down;To husband out life's taper at the close,And keep the flame from wasting, by repose:I still had hopes, for pride attends us still,Amidst the swains to show my book-learn'd skill,Around my fire an evening group to draw,And tell of all I felt, and all I saw;And, as a hare, whom hounds and horns pursue,Pants to the place from whence at first she flew,I still had hopes, my long vexations past,Here to return -- and die at home at last.”

“I chose my wife, as she did her wedding gown, for qualities that would wear well.”

“A great source of calamity lies in regret and anticipation; therefore a person is wise who thinks of the present alone, regardless of the past or future.”

“Success consists of getting up just one more time than you fall.”

“The company of fools may first make us smile, but in the end we always feel melancholy.”

“Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations.”

“You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.”

“Pity and friendship are two passions incompatible with each other.”

“All that a husband or wife really wants is to be pitied a little, praised a little, and appreciated a little.”

“A man who leaves home to mend himself and others is a philosopher; but he who goes from country to country, guided by the blind impulse of curiosity, is a vagabond.”

“Romance and novel paint beauty in colors more charming than nature, and describe a happiness that humans never taste. How deceptive and destructive are those pictures of consummate bliss!”