The cunningest dissimulation is when a man pretends to be caught in the traps others set for him; and a man is never so easily over-reached as when he is contriving to over-reach others.

However evil men may be they dare not be openly hostile to virtue, and so when they want to attack it they pretend to find it spurious , or impute crimes to it.

We should wish for few things with eagerness, if we perfectly knew the nature of that which was the object of our desire.

It is easier to know men in general, than men in particular.

Whatever discoveries we may have made in the regions of self-love, there still remain many unknown lands.

Praise is a more ingenious, concealed, and subtle kind of flattery, that satisfies both the giver and the receiver, though by verydifferent ways. The one accepts it as a reward due to his merit; the other gives it that he may be looked upon as a just and discerning person.

The man whom no one pleases is much more unhappy than the man who pleases no one.