Some allow themselves to be overcome by panic, and others charge because they dare not remain at their posts. Some may be found whose courage is strengthened by small perils that prepare them to face greater dangers. Some are daring when facing swords but dread facing bullets; others dread bullets little but fear facing swords a lot.

Old people love to give good advice; it compensates them for their inability to set a bad example.

Fortune and humor govern the world.

Nothing ought more to humiliate men who have merited great praise than the care they still take to boast of little things.

Gravity is a mysterious carriage of the body invented to cover the defects of the mind.

Self-love increases or diminishes for us the good qualities of our friends, in proportion to the satisfaction we feel with them; and we judge of their merit by the manner in which they act towards us.

Great souls are not those who have fewer passions and more virtues than others, but only those who have greater designs.