"I am glad to have met you, Mr.Halloway.You are the one happy man I know." "The secret of contentment ?" repeated Gerald.

"Say rather the principle of all stagnation, mental and spiritual.

Not to aspire to become greater than one _can_ be is to fall short of becoming all that one _may_ be; to be satisfied with one's powers is to dwarf them hopelessly." "A powerful argument against conceit," reflected De Forest.

"Still, upon my word, I think I would as lief be conceited in every pore as eternally in a state of dissatisfaction with myself about every thing." "It is well, above all, I think, to have a just appreciation of one's own powers or lack of powers," said Denham, slowly.

"Ambition, without the corresponding strength to gratify it, is a cruel taskmaster." "How can you tell, till you have tried, that there is no corresponding strength ?" asked Gerald, turning full upon him again.