Our aversion to lying is commonly a secret ambition to make what we say considerable, and have every word received with a religious respect.

Silence is the safest policy if you are unsure of yourself.

The height of cleverness is to be able to conceal it.

Idleness is more an infirmity of the mind than of the body.

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

We are much mistaken if we think that men are always brave from a principle of valor, or women chaste from a principle of modesty.

However great the advantages given us by nature, it is not she alone, but fortune with her, which makes heroes.