Flattery is a base coin which is current only through our vanity.
It is safer to do most men harm than to do them too much good.
A man would rather say evil of himself than say nothing.
The only security is courage.
What renders us so changeable in our friendship is, that it is difficult to know the qualities of the soul, but easy to know those of the mind.
Flattery is a kind of bad money, to which our vanity gives us currency.