It is easier for a man to be thought fit for an employment that he has not, than for one he stands already possessed of, and is exercising.

Men have written in the most convincing manner to prove that death is no evil, and this opinion has been confirmed on a thousand celebrated occasions by the weakest of men as well as by heroes. Even so I doubt whether any sensible person has ever believed it, and the trouble men take to convince others as well as themselves that they do shows clearly that it is no easy undertaking.

We never desire strongly, what we desire rationally.

Neither love nor fire can subsist without perpetual motion; both cease to live so soon as they cease to hope, or to fear.

People's personalities, like buildings, have various facades, some pleasant to view, some not.

The greatest of all gifts is the power to estimate things at their true worth

The intellect of the generality of women serves more to fortify their folly than their reason.