One reason why the most famous portraits of the old masters, ... are…

There is a policy in manner. I have heard one, not inexperienced in the pursuit of fame, give it his earnest support, as being the surest passport to absolute and brilliant success.

Credulity is perhaps a weakness almost inseparable from eminently truthful characters.

To a nice ear, the quality of a voice is singularly affecting. Its depth seems to be allied to feeling; at least, the contralto notes alone give an adequate sense of pathos. They are born near the heart.

Tact is an essential principle of conversation; hence, the eastern metaphor which likens a word spoken in season, to "apples of gold in pictures of silver." The time and the society must regulate the subject.

Give me the boon of Love! I ask no more for Fame; Far better one unpurchased heart Than Glory's proudest name. Why wake a fever in the blood, Or damp the spirit now,

There is more or less of pathos in all true beauty. The delight it awakens has an undefinable and, as it were, luxurious sadness, which is perhaps one element of its might. It may be that this feeling springs from a sense of unattained …