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Nothing is so frequent as to mistake an ordinary human gift for a special and extraordinary endowment.

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Whatever you are from nature, keep to it; never desert your own line of talent. Be what nature intended you for, and you will succeed; be anything else, and you will be ten thousands times worse than nothing.

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Words learned by rote a parrot may rehearse; but talking is not always to converse, not more distinct from harmony divine, the constant creaking of a country sign.

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As empty vessels make the loudest sound, so they that have least with are the greatest babblers.

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If thy words be too luxuriant, confine them, lest they confine thee. He that thinks he can never speak enough, may easily speak too much. A full tongue and an empty brain are seldom parted.

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I think I may define taste to be that faculty of the soul which discerns the beauties of an author with pleasure, and the imperfections with dislike.

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A truly elegant taste is generally accompanied with excellency of heart.

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Good taste is the flower of good sense.

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People who like this sort of thing will find this the sort of thing they like.

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Gossip is always a personal confession of malice or imbecility; it is a low, frivolous, and too often a dirty business. There are neighborhoods where it rages like a pest; churches are split in pieces by it, and neighbor made enemies for life. Let the young avoid or cure it while they may.

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