It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free; their passions forge their fetters

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It is known that the taste - whatever it is - is improved exactly as we improve our judgment, by extending our knowledge, by a steady attention to our object, and by frequent exercise

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It is in the relaxation of security; it is in the expansion of prosperity; it is in the hour of dilatation of the heart, and of its softening into festivity and pleasure, that the real character of men is discerned

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It is for the most part in our skill in manners, and in the observations of time and place and of decency in general, that what is called taste by way of distinction consists; and which is in reality no other than a more refined judgment

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It is by sympathy we enter into the concerns of others, that we are moved as they are moved, and are never suffered to be indifferent spectators of almost anything which men can do or suffer. For sympathy may be considered as a sort of substitution, by which we are put into the place of another man, and affected in many respects as he is affected

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It is by imitation, far more than by precept, that we learn everything; and what we learn thus, we acquire not only more effectually, but more pleasantly

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It is a general error to suppose the loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for its welfare

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It becomes extremely hard to disentangle our idea of the cause from the effect by which we know it

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Is it in destroying and pulling down that skill is displayed? The shallowest understanding, the rudest hand, is more than equal to that task

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In all forms of government the people is the true legislator

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