We should often feel ashamed of our best actions if the world could see all the motives which produced them.

Ability wins us the esteem of the true men; luck, that of the people.

There are certain people fated to be fools; they not only commit follies by choice, but are even constrained to do so by fortune.

One honor won is a surety for more.

In misfortune we often mistake dejection for constancy; we bear it without daring to look on it; like cowards, who suffer themselves to be murdered without resistance.

Some disguised deceits counterfeit truth so perfectly that not to be taken in by them would be an error of judgment.

Our enemies come nearer the truth in the opinions they form of us than we do in our opinion of ourselves.