It is not in the power of even the most crafty dissimulation to conceal love long, where it really is, nor to counterfeit it long where it is not.

We are almost always bored by just those whom we must not find boring.

There are persons whose only merit consists in saying and doing stupid things at the right time, and who ruin all if they change their manners.

It is as easy to deceive one's self without perceiving it, as it is difficult to deceive others without their finding out.

Virtues lose themselves in self-interest, as rivers in the sea.

It is often hard to determine whether a clear, open, and honorable proceeding is the result of goodness or of cunning.

Vanity, shame, and above all disposition, often make men brave and women chaste.