“Money and time are the heaviest burdens of life . . . the unhappiest of all mortals are those who have more of either than they know how to use.”

“It has been observed in all ages that the advantages of nature or of fortune have contributed very little to the promotion of happiness; and that those whom the splendour of their rank, or the extent of their capacity, have placed upon the summits of human life, have not often given any just occasion to envy in those who look up to them from a lower station; whether it be that apparent superiority incites great designs, and great designs are naturally liable to fatal miscarriages; or that the general lot of mankind is misery, and the misfortunes of those whose eminence drew upon them an universal attention, have been more carefully recorded, because they were more generally observed, and have in reality only been more conspicuous than others, not more frequent, or more severe.”

“Tea's proper use is to amuse the idle, and relax the studious, and dilute the full meals of those who cannot use exercise, and will not use abstinence."(Essay on Tea, 1757.)”

“Getting money is not all a man's business: to cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life.”

“It is all work, and my inducement to it is not love or desire of fame, but the want of money, which is the only motive to writing that I know of.”

“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.”