I shall not be satisfied unless I produce something that shall for a few days supersede the last fashionable novel on the tables of young ladies.

Then none was for a party;
Then all were for the state;
Then the great man helped the poor,
And the poor man loved the great:
Then lands were fairly portioned;
Then spoils were fairly sold:
The Romans were like brothers
In the brave days of old.

I shall cheerfully bear the reproach of having descended below the dignity of history if I can succeed in placing before the English of the nineteenth century a true picture of the life of their ancestors.

The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

We must judge of a form of government by its general tendency, not by happy accidents.

It is possible to be below flattery as well as above it.