One learns to itch where one can scratch.

He who thinks he is raising a mound may only in Reality be digging a pit.

The province of philosophy is not so much to prevent calamities befalling as to demonstrate that they are blessings when they have taken place.

Alas! It is well written, The road to eminence lies through the cheap and exceedingly uninviting eating-houses.

A reputation for a thousand years may depend upon the conduct of a single moment.

How is it possible to suspend topaz in one cup of the balance and weigh it against amethyst in the other; or who in a single language can compare the tranquillizing grace of a maiden with the invigorating pleasure of witnessing a well-contested rat-fight?

One cannot live for ever by ignoring the price of coffins.