A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men.

All this worldly wisdom was once the unamiable heresy of some wise man.

Any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one

Men will lie on their backs, talking about the fall of man, and never make an effort to get up

I do believe in simplicity. It is astonishing as well as sad, how many trivial affairs even the wisest thinks he must attend to in a day; how singular an affair he thinks he must omit. When the mathematician would solve a difficult problem, he first frees the equation of all incumbrances, and reduces it to its simplest terms. So simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real. Probe the earth to see where your main roots run.

Be true to your work, your word, and your friend.