Edymion did not take hold of me as Lothair did, and I declined, but I have never lost the impression which I gathered out of Lothair.

It is worse than useless to attempt the biography of a man unless you know, or think you know, what his inner nature was ....

I am quite sure that Lord Beaconsfield had a clearer insight than most men into the contemporary constitution of Europe--that he had a real interest in the welfare and prospects of mankind; and while perhaps he rather despised the great English aristocracy, he probably thought better of them than of any other class in England.

I suppose that like Cicero he wished to excel, or perhaps more like Augustus to play his part well in the tragic comedy of life.

I do not suppose that he had any vulgar ambition at all ....