Washington Irving

Speculation is the romance of trade, and casts contempt upon on all its sober realities. It renders the stock-jobber a magician, and the exchange a region of enchantment.

Washington Irving

Surely happiness is reflective, like the light of heaven.

Washington Irving

Sweet is the memory of distant friends! Like the mellow rays of the departing sun, it falls tenderly, yet sadly, on the heart.

Washington Irving

That happy age when a man can be idle with impunity.

Washington Irving

The Englishman is too apt to neglect the present good in preparing against the possible evil.

Washington Irving

The idol of today pushes the hero of yesterday out of our recollection; and will, in turn, be supplanted by his successor of tomorrow.

Washington Irving

The land of literature is a fairy land to those who view it at a distance, but, like all other landscapes, the charm fades on a nearer approach, and the thorns and briars become visible.

Washington Irving

The love of a mother is never exhausted. It never changes – it never tires – it endures through all; in good repute, in bad repute. In the face of the world’s condemnation, a mother’s love still lives on.

Washington Irving

The natural effect of sorrow over the dead is to refine and elevate the mind.

Washington Irving

The natural principle of war is to do the most harm to our enemy with the least harm to ourselves; and this of course is to be effected by stratagem.

Washington Irving