There is some magic in wealth, which can thus make persons pay their court to it, when it does not even benefit themselves.

One act of beneficence, one act of real usefulness, is worth all the abstract sentiment in the world.

O! useful may it be to have shewn, that, though the vicious can sometimes pour affliction upon the good, their power is transient and their punishment certain; and that innocence, though oppressed by injustice, shall, supported by patience, finally triumph over misfortune!And, if the weak hand, that has recorded this tale, has, by its scenes, beguiled the mourner of one hour of sorrow, or, by its moral, taught him to sustain it—the effort, however humble, has not been vain, nor is the writer unrewarded.

There is something in the ardour and ingenousness of youth, which is particularly pleasing to the contemplation of an old man, if his feelings have not been entirely corroded by the world.

Ignorance of true pleasure more frequently than temptation to that which is false, leads to vice.

But St. Aubert had too much good sense to prefer a charm to a virtue.

There is no accounting for tastes.