James Wood, comp. Dictionary of Quotations. 1899.
Billings
Fortune is like a mirror—it does not alter men; it only shows men just as they are.
Just as the flint contains the spark, unknown to itself, which the steel alone can wake into life, so adversity often reveals to us hidden gems which prosperity or negligence would cause for ever to lie hid.
Lies are like nitro-glycerine—the best of judges can’t tell where they are going to burst and scatter confusion.
Most people, when they come to you for advice, come to have their own opinions strengthened, not corrected.
One good way I know of to find happiness is not by boring a hole to fit the plug.