Edwin Percy Whipple

“The secret of mediocrity is to be conventional.”

“It is with words as with sunbeams - the more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.”

“Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.”

“What we call 'morbid' is often tracing a feeling to its source.”

“The great consulting room of a wise man is his library.”

“The most mischievous liars are those who keep sliding on the very verge of truth.”

“Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food.”

“A cynic is a man who looks at the world with a monocle in his mind.”

“True statesmanship is the art of changing a nation from what it is into what it ought to be.”

“Character is a reserved force which acts directly by presence, and without means.”

“The best that we can do for one another is to exchange our thoughts.”

“A disposition to find fault is a promising characteristic of a good critic.”

“The barrenest of all mortals is the sentimentalist.”

“Vitality is not a product of the death of morality, but a product of its strength.”

“In every great genius there is a touch of madness.”