"The good life," says George Herbert, "is never out of season." Goethe has said that there is no man so commonplace that a wise man may not learn something from him.

Sir Walter Scott could not travel in a coach without gleaning some information or discovering some new trait of character in his companions.

[193] Dr.Johnson once observed that there was not a person in the streets but he should like to know his biography--his experiences of life, his trials, his difficulties, his successes, and his failures.

How much more truly might this be said of the men who have made their mark in the world's history, and have created for us that great inheritance of civilization of which we are the possessors! Whatever relates to such men--to their habits, their manners, their modes of living, their personal history, their conversation, their maxims, their virtues, or their greatness--is always full of interest, of instruction, of encouragement, and of example.
The great lesson of Biography is to show what man can be and do at his best.

A noble life put fairly on record acts like an inspiration to others.