Great and glorious events which dazzle the beholder are represented by politicians as the outcome of grand designs whereas they are usually products of temperaments and passions.

Nothing is so capable of diminishing self-love as the observation that we disapprove at one time what we approve at another.

Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors.

The judgments our enemies make about us come nearer to the truth than those we make about ourselves.

A small degree of wit, accompanied by good sense, is less tiresome in the long run than a great amount of wit without it.

Love is one and the same in the original; but there are a thousand different copies of it.

If there be a love pure and free from the admixture of our other passions, it is that which lies hidden in the bottom of our heart, and which we know not ourselves.