Observation made in the cloister or in the desert will generally be as obscure as the one and as barren as the other; but he that would paint with his pencil must study originals, and not be over-fearful of a little dust.

To look back to antiquity is one thing, to go back to it is another.

Secrecy is the soul of all great designs. Perhaps more has been effected by concealing our own intentions than by discovering those of our enemy.

Vice has more martyrs than virtue; and it often happens that men suffer more to be lost than to be saved.

A coxcomb begins by determining that his own profession is the first; and he finishes by deciding that he is the first of profession.

The masses procure their opinions ready made in open market.

Sloth, if it has prevented many crimes, has also smothered many virtues.