Perfection

Let age approve of youth, and death complete the same

No man is so perfect, so necessary to his friends, as to give them no cause to miss him less

There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting, public speaking

Fix your eyes on perfection and you make almost everything speed towards it

Practice makes perfect, so be careful what you practice

Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass

Conciseness is the sister of talent

To judge between good or bad, between successful and unsuccessful would take the eye of a God

The only way to be sure of catching a train is to miss the one before it.

Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable

Reason is the life of the law; nay, the common law itself is nothing else but reason - the law which is perfection of reason

You should trust any man in his own art provided he is skilled in it.

A proverb is no proverb to you until life has illustrated it

The excellency of every art is its intensity, capable of making all disagreeable evaporate

The closer the look one takes at a word, the greater distance from which it looks back

The teller of a mirthful tale has latitude allowed him. We are content with less than absolute truth

A single grateful thought toward heaven is the most perfect prayer.

The human tendency to regard little things as important has produced very many great things

A clever child brought up with a foolish one can itself become foolish. Man is so perfectible and corruptible he can become a fool through good sense

The most accomplished monkey cannot draw a monkey, this only man can do; just as it is also only man who regards his ability to do this as a distinct merit