“A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good.”

“It is strange that there should be so little reading in the world, and so much writing. People in general do not willingly read, if they can have any thing else to amuse them.”

“Never trust a man who writes more than he reads.”

“I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read.”

“Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it.”

“What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure.”

“The noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees, is the high road that leads him to England!”