A readiness to believe ill of others, before we have duly examined it, is the effect of laziness and pride. We are eager to find aculprit, and loath to give ourselves the trouble of examining the crime.

We are sometimes as different from ourselves as we are from others.

Flattery is a counterfeit money which, but for vanity, would have no circulation.

Self-love is the greatest of all flatterers.

We may seem great in an employment below our worth, but we very often look little in one that is too big for us.

We get so much in the habit of wearing disguises before others that we finally appear disguised before ourselves.

Prudence and love are inconsistent; in proportion as the last increases, the other decreases.