What makes people hard-hearted is this, that each man has, or fancies he has, as much as he can bear in his own troubles.

If you want to know your true opinion of someone, watch the effect produced in you by the first sight of a letter from him.

Men best show their character in trifles, where they are not on their guard. It is in the simplest habits, that we often see the boundless egotism which pays no regard to the feelings of others and denies nothing to itself.

The present is the only reality and the only certainty.

Where there is no love, a person's faithfulness to the marriage bond is probably against nature.

Style is the physiognomy of the mind. It is more infallible than that of the body. To imitate the style of another is said to be wearing a mask. However beautiful it may be, it is through its lifelessness insipid and intolerable, so that even the most ugly living face is more engaging.

The shortness of life, so often lamented, may be the best thing about it.