If one judges love according to the greatest part of the effects it produces, it would appear to resemble rather hatred than kindness.

Love of glory, fear of shame, greed for fortune, the desire to make life agreeable and comfortable, and the wish to depreciate others - all of these are often the causes of the bravery that is spoken so highly of by men.

What is called generosity is usually only the vanity of giving; we enjoy the vanity more than the thing given.

Humility is the altar upon which God wishes that we should offer Him His sacrifices.

When we exaggerate our friends' tenderness towards us, it is often less from gratitude than from a desire to exhibit our own virtue.

Gratitude is like credit; it is the backbone of our relations; frequently we pay our debts not because equity demands that we should, but to facilitate future loans.

One forgives to the degree that one loves.