"It is a most extraordinary, and at the same time a most natural, thing, that a man should be able to look back upon his life and see it as a whole."

"I have made it a rule of my life to avoid all unnecessary contact with the world."

"It is a pleasant thing to reflect upon, and good for a man's heart, that however poor he may be, he always has a thousand friends; and not one of them will desert him."

"There are some things in the world that a man cannot know, and ought not to know, if he could."

"There are books of which the backs and covers are by far the best parts."