The astonishing intellect that occupies itself in splitting hairs, and not in twisting some kind of cordage and effectual draught tackle to take the road with, is not to me the most astonishing of intellects. I want twisted cordage, steady pulling, and a peaceable bass tone of voice; not split hairs, hysterical spasmodics, and treble. Carlyle.
The Atlantic Ocean beat Mrs. Partington. She was excellent at a slop or a puddle, but she should not have meddled with a tempest. Sydney Smith.
The atmosphere of moral sentiment is a region of grandeur which reduces all material magnificence to toys, yet opens to every wretch that has reason the doors of the universe. Emerson.
The attainment of a truer and truer aristocracy, or government again by the Best,—all that democracy ever meant lies there. Carlyle.
The attempt, and not the deed, / Confounds us. 35 Macb., ii. 2.
The attraction of love is in an inverse proportion to the attraction of the Newtonian philosophy. Burns.
The author is often obscure to readers because, as has been said, he proceeds from the thought to the expression, whereas they proceed from the expression to the thought. Chamfort.
The awful shadow of some unseen Power / Floats, though unseen, among us. Shelley.
The axe of intemperance has lopped off his green boughs and left him a withered trunk. Swift.
The axis of the earth sticks out visibly through 40 the centre of each and every town or city. Holmes.