To despise riches, may, indeed, be philosophic, but to dispense them worthily, must surely be more beneficial to mankind.

We relate all our afflictions more frequently than we do our pleasures.

. . . men seldom risk their lives where an escape is without hope of recompense.

Nothing is so delicate as the reputation of a woman; it is at once the most beautiful and most brittle of all human things.

But how cool, how quiet is true courage!

such is the effect of true politeness, that it banishes all restraint and embarassment.

an old woman ... is a person who has no sense of decency; if once she takes to living, the devil himself can't get rid of her.