I prefer granting with a good grace what I know I shan't be able to prevent.

Nothing is so silly as the expression of a man who is being complimented.

Know thyself. A maxim as pernicious as it is ugly. Whoever studies himself arrest his own development. A caterpillar who seeks to know himself would never become a butterfly.

Every instant of our lives is essentially irreplaceable: you must know this in order to concentrate on life.

The loveliest creations of men are persistently painful. What would be the description of happiness? Nothing, except what prepares and then what destroys it.

Whither should we aim if not towards God?

Money cannot buy happiness, but it can make you awfully comfortable while you're being miserable. Nothing prevents happiness like the memory of happiness.