We should not judge a man's merits by his great qualities, but by the use he makes of them.

There is no better proof of a man's being truly good than his desiring to be constantly under the observation of good men.

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

We are always bored by the very people by whom it is vital not to be bored.

There is a form of eminence which does not depend on fate; it is an air which sets us apart and seems to prtend great things; it is the value which we unconsciously attach to ourselves; it is the quality which wins us deference of others; more than birth, position, or ability, it gives us ascendance.

The contempt of riches in philosophers was only a hidden desire to avenge their merit upon the injustice of fortune, by despising the very goods of which fortune had deprived them; it was a secret to guard themselves against the degradation of poverty, it was a back way by which to arrive at that distinction which they could not gain by riches.

Fortune turns all things to the advantage of those on whom she smiles.