We see then how far the monuments of wit and learning are more durable than the monuments of power, or of the hands. For have not the verses of Homer continued twenty-five hundred years or more, without the loss of a syllable or letter; during which time infinite palaces, temples, castles, cities have been decayed and demolished?

I would like my pictures to look as if a human being had passed between them, like a snail, leaving a trail of the human presence and memory trace of past events, as the snail leaves its slime.

Perils commonly ask to be paid in pleasures.

Men leave their riches either to their kindred or their friends, and moderate portions prosper best in both.

The monuments of wit survive the monuments of power.

The zeal which begins with hypocrisy must conclude in treachery at first it deceives, at last it betrays

Why should a man be in love with his fetters, though of gold?