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

It is the steady and merciless increase of occupations, the augmented speed at which we are always trying to live, the crowding of each day with more work than it can profitably hold, which has cost us, among other things, the undisturbed enjoyment of friends. Friendship takes time, and we have no time to give it.

The essence of humor is that it should be unexpected, that it should embody an element of surprise, that it should startle us out of that reasonable gravity which, after all, must be our habitual frame of mind.

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

The delusions of the past seem fond and foolish. The delusions of the present seem subtle and sane.

Erudition, like a bloodhound, is a charming thing when held firmly in leash, but it is not so attractive when turned loose upon a defenseless and unerudite public.

To be brave in misfortune is to be worthy of manhood; to be wise in misfortune is to conquer fate.