Women's virtue is frequently nothing but a regard to their own quiet and a tenderness for their reputation.

A certain harmony should be kept between actions and ideas if we want to fully develop the effects they can produce.

We rarely ever perceive others as being sensible, except for those who agree with us.

A man often thinks he rules himself, when all the while he is ruled and managed; and while his understanding directs one design, his affections imperceptibly draw him into another.

Those who occupy their minds with small matters, generally become incapable of greatness.

Humility is the sure evidence of Christian virtues. Without it, we retain all our faults still, and they are only covered over with pride, which hides them from other men's observation, and sometimes from our own too.

Affected simplicity is an elegant imposture.