“No doubt, when modesty was made a virtue, it was a very advantageous thing for the fools, for everybody is expected to speak of himself as if he were one.”

“Every child is in a way a genius; and every genius is in a way a child.”

“History is the long, difficult and confused dream of Mankind.”

“The doctor sees all the weakness of mankind; the lawyer all the wickedness, the theologian all the stupidity.”

“Every human perfection is linked to an error which it threatens to turn into”

“If ever thou shalt love,In the sweet pangs of it remember me;For such as I am all true lovers are,Unstaid and skittish in all motions elseSave in the constant image of the creatureThat is beloved.”

“Love sees with the heart and not with mind.”

“I love a ballad but even too well if it be doleful matter merrily set down, or a very pleasant thing indeed and sung lamentably.”