There is no man so great as not to have some littleness more predominant than all his greatness. Our virtues are the dupes, and often only the plaything of our follies.

Real philosophy seeks rather to solve than to deny.

There are times when the mirth of others only saddens us, especially the mirth of children with high spirits, that jar on our own quiet mood.

Happiness and virtue rest upon each other; the best are not only the happiest, but the happiest are usually the best.

We are not such fools as to pay for reading inferior books, when we can read superior books for nothing.

Birds sing in vain to the ear, flowers bloom in vain to the eye, of mortified vanity and galled ambition. He who would know repose in retirement must carry into retirement his destiny, integral and serene, as the Caesars transported the statue of Fortune into the chamber they chose for their sleep.

A woman too often reasons from her heart; hence two-thirds of her mistakes and her troubles.