The first years in Parliament I did nothing - nothing to any purpose. My own distinction was my darling object.
As much pains were taken to make me idle as were ever taken to make me studious.
Can one serve God and one's nation in parliament?
The objects of the present life fill the human eye with a false magnification because of their immediacy.
Let everyone regulate his conduct... by the golden rule of doing to others as in similar circumstances we would have them do to us, and the path of duty will be clear before him.
God Almighty has set before me two great objects: the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of manners.