Of all afflictions, the worst is self contempt.
All men are selfish, but the vain man is in love with himself. He admires, like the lover his adored one, everything which to others is indifferent.
The vain being is the really solitary being.
Our second mother, habit, is also a good mother.
The silver-leaved birch retains in its old age a soft bark; there are some such men.
When you have discovered a stain in yourself, you eagerly seek for and gladly find stains in others.