"He who only writes to suit the taste of the age, considers himself more than his writings. We should always aim at perfection, and then posterity will do us that justice which sometimes our contemporaries refuse us."

"A mediocre mind thinks it writes divinely; a good mind thinks it writes reasonably."

"The same common sense which makes an author write good things, makes him dread they are not good enough to deserve reading."

"It requires more than mere genius to be an author."

"A man of moderate Understanding, thinks he writes divinely: A man of good Understanding, thinks he writes reasonably."

"To express truth is to write naturally, forcibly, and delicately."

"Eloquence may be found in conversations and in all kinds of writings; it is rarely found when looked for, and sometimes discovered where it is least expected."

"It is the glory and merit of some men to write well and of others not to write at all."

"A good author, and one who writes carefully, often discovers that the expression of which he has been in search without being able to discover it, and which he has at last found, is that which was the most simple, the most natural, and which seems as if it ought to have presented itself at once, without effort, to the mind."