A gilded No is more satisfactory than a dry Yes.

Politeness is the chief sign of culture.

The happy are an exception who enjoy innocently their simple happiness.

Don't express your ideas too clearly. Most people think little of what they understand, and venerate what they do not.

Fortune pays you sometimes for the intensity of her favors by the shortness of their duration. She soon tires of carrying any one long on her shoulders.

Fortunate people often have very favorable beginnings and very tragic endings. What matters isn't being applauded when you arrive - for that is common - but being missed when you leave.

For a thing to remain undone nothing more is needed than to think of it done.