Vanity often produces unreasonable alarm.

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

What has a man's face to do with his character? Can a man of good character help having a disagreeable face?

He loved the soothing hour, when the last tints of light die away; when the stars, one by one, tremble through æther, and are reflected on the dark mirror of the waters; that hour, which, of all others, inspires the mind with pensive tenderness, and often elevates it to sublime contemplation.

Happiness arises in a state of peace, not of tumult.

I never trust people's assertions, I always judge of them by their actions.

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