“Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors.”

“brings domesticity and common sense, and that propriety which every man loves, directly into this hurly-burly, and makes every bully ashamed.”

“When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.”

“Astronomy to the selfish becomes astrology.”

“Every hero becomes a bore at last.”

“The world of any moment is the merest appearance. Some great decorum, some fetish of government, some ephemeral trade, or war, or man, is cried up by half mankind and cried down by the other half, as if it all depended on this particular up or down.”

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”