"Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery! I quit such odious subjects as soon as
I can, impatient to restore every body, not greatly in fault themselves, to tolerable
comfort, and to have done with all the rest."
"These words dropped into my childish mind as if you should drop a ring into a deep
well. I did not think much of them at the time, but there came a day in my life when
that ring was fished up out of the well, good as new."
"To - -
"OH author of my being! - far more dear
To me than light, than nourishment, or rest,
Hygieia's blessings, Rapture's burning tear,
Or the life blood that mantles my breast!
"If in my heart the love of Virtue glows,
'Twas planted there by an unerring rule;
From thy example the pure flame arose,
Thy life, my precept - thy good 'oorks, my school,
"Could my weak pow'rs thy num'rous virtues trace,
By filial love each fear should be repress'd;
The Blush of Incapacity I'd chase,
And stand, recorder of thy worth, confess'd.
"But since my niggard stars that girf refuse,
Concealment is the only boon I claim;
Obscure still the unsuccessful muse,
Who cannot raise, but would not sink, your fame.
"Oh! Of my life at once the source and joy!
If e'er thy eyes these feeble lines survey,
Let not their folly their intent destroy,
Accept the tribute - but forget the lay."
"O! useful may it be to have shewn, that, though the vicious can sometimes pour
affliction upon the good, their power is transient and their punishment certain;
and that innocence, though oppressed by injustice, shall, supported by patience,
finally triumph over misfortune!"
"Marlow: I protest, child, you use me extremely ill. If you keep me at this distance,
how is it possible you and I can ever be acquainted?"
"The only good is knowledge and
the only evil is ignorance."
