It is difficult to admonish Frenchmen. Their habit of mind is unfavorable to preachment.

the labors of the true critic are more essential to the author, even, than to the reader.

Love is a malady, the common symptoms of which are the same in all patients.

There are many ways of asking a favor; but to assume that you are granting the favor that you ask shows spirit and invention.

There are people who balk at small civilities on account of their manifest insincerity. ... It is better and more logical to accept all the polite phraseology which facilitates intercourse, and contributes to the sweetness of life. If we discarded the formal falsehoods which are the currency of conversation, we should not be one step nearer the vital things of truth.

There is a natural limit to the success we wish our friends, even when we have spurred them on their way.

Neatness of phrase is so closely akin to wit that it is often accepted as its substitute.