The Real Object Of The Drama Is

More Sinners Are Cursed At Not Because We Despise Their Sins But Because We Envy Their Success At Sinning.

And To Say That Society Ought To Be Governed By The Opinion Of The Wisest And Best, Though True, Is Useless. Whose Opinion Is To Decide Who Are The Wisest And Best?

Those Who Compare The Age In Which Their Lot Has Fallen With A Golden Age Which Exists Only In Imagination, May Talk Of Degeneracy And Decay; But No Man Who Is Correctly Informed As To The Past, Will Be Disposed To Take A Morose Or Desponding View Of The Present.

The History Of Nations, In The Sense In Which I Use The Word, Is Often Best Studied In Works Not Professedly Historical.

We Cannot Absolutely Prove That Those Are In Error Who Tell Us That Society Has Reached A Turning Point, That We Have Seen Our Best Days. But So Said All Before Us, And With Just As Much Apparent Reason.