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

Nothing hinders a thing from being natural so much as the straining ourselves to make it seem so.

It is necessary, in order to know things well, to know the particulars of them; and these, being infinite, make our knowledge eversuperficial and imperfect.

Sincerity is an openness of heart; we find it in very few people; what we usually see is only an artful dissimulation to win the confidence of others.

To boast that one never flirts is actually a kind of flirtation.

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

We frequently are troublesome to others, when we think it impossible for us ever to be so.