As men are affected in all ages by the same passions, the occasions which bring about great changes are different, but the causes are always the same.

Talent is a gift which God has given us secretly, and which we reveal without perceiving it.

The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded.

Raillery is a mode of speaking in favor of one's wit at the expense of one's better nature.

The public business must be carried on with a certain motion, neither too quick nor too slow.

If you run after wit, you will succeed in catching folly.

It is necessary from the very nature of things that power should be a check to power.