Opinion is a light, vain, crude, and imperfect thing;

The voice so sweet, the words so fair, As some soft chime had stroked the air; And, though the sound were parted thence, Still left an echo in the sense.

A good life is a main argument.

It is not growing like a tree In bulk, doth make man better be; Or standing long an oak, three hundred year, To fall a log, dry, bald and sere: A lily of a day…

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

'Well, I try not to think about the general public since I have no idea what the general public is and I don't think anybody does.'

My great comfort is, that the temporary celebrity I have wrung from the world has been in the very teeth of all opinions and prejudices. I have flattered no ru…