The generality of friends puts us out of conceit with friendship; just as the generality of religious people puts us out of conceit with religion.

The intention of cheating no one lays us open to being cheated ourselves.

Most men expose themselves in battle enough to save their honor, few wish to do so more than sufficiently, or than is necessary to make the design for which they expose themselves succeed.

Clemency, which we make a virtue of, proceeds sometimes from vanity, sometimes from indolence, often from fear, and almost always from a mixture of all three.

A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.

There are many predicaments in life that one must be a bit crazy to escape from.

Perfect courage and utter cowardice are two extremes which rarely occur.