Every man who rises above the common level has received two educations: the first from his teachers; the second, more personal and important, from himself."

"It has always been my practice to cast a long paragraph in a single mould, to try it by my ear, to deposit it in my memory, but to suspend the action of the pen till I had given the last polish to my work."

"The style of an author should be the image of his mind, but the choice and command of language is the fruit of exercise."

"We improve ourselves by victories over ourself. There must be contests, and we must win."

The author himself is the best judge of his own performance; none has so deeply meditated on the subject; none is so sincerely interested in the event.