To be witty is not enough. One must possess sufficient wit to avoid having too much of it.

Two human beings anchored to one another are like two ships shaken by waves; their carcases collide with one another and creak.

Old age is far more than white hair, wrinkles, the feeling that it is too late and the game finished, that the stage belongs to the rising generations. The true evil is not the weakening of the body, but the indifference of the soul.

A friend loves you for your intelligence, a mistress for your charm, but your family's love is unreasoning; you were born into it and are of its flesh and blood. Nevertheless it can irritate you more than any group of people in the world.

The most important quality in a leader is that of being acknowledged as such. All leaders whose fitness is questioned are clearly lacking in force.

Few are they who have never had a chance to achieve happiness- and fewer those who have taken that chance.

If men could regard the events of their own lives with more open minds, they would frequently discover that they did not really desire the things they failed to obtain.