C.N. Douglas, comp. Forty Thousand Quotations: Prose and Poetical. 1917.
Maxims
Good maxims are the germs of all excellence.
Strongly stamped, medallion-like sayings.
Collect as precious pearls the words of the wise and virtuous.
Axioms are delightful in theory, but impossible in practice.
Maxims are the condensed good sense of nations.
Maxims are often quoted by those who stand in more need of their application.
A maxim is like the seed of a plant, which the soul it is thrown into must expand into leaves and flowers and fruit.
Maxims are to the intellect what laws are to actions; they do not enlighten, but they guide and direct, and, although themselves blind, are protective.
I am of opinion that there is no proverb which is not true, because they are all sentences drawn from experience itself, the mother of all the sciences.
A maxim is a conclusion upon observation of matters of fact, and is merely speculative; a “principle” carries knowledge within itself, and is prospective.