Nothing is rarer than true good nature; they who are reputed to have it are generally only pliant or weak.

Our repentances are generally not so much a concern and remorse for the harm we have done, as a fear of the harm we may have brought upon ourselves.

Nature makes merit, and fortune puts it to work.

If it were not for the company of fools, a witty man would often be greatly at a loss.

The only thing that should surprise us is that there are still some things that can surprise us.

Our greediness so often troubles us, making us run after so many things at the same time, that while we too eagerly look after the least we miss the greatest.

The health of the soul is as precarious as that of the body; for when we seem secure from passions, we are no less in danger of their infection than we are of falling ill when we appear to be well.