Pride has a greater share than goodness in the reproofs we give other people for their faults; and we chide them not so much to make them mend those faults as to make them believe that we ourselves are without fault.

We are never so happy, nor so unhappy, as we suppose ourselves to be.

It is no tragedy to do ungrateful people favors, but it is unbearable to be indebted to a scoundrel.

What makes us so bitter against people who outwit us is that they think themselves cleverer than we are.

The exceeding delight we take in talking about ourselves should give us cause to fear that we are giving but very little pleasureto our listeners.

The first lover is kept a long while, when no offer is made of a second.

A readiness to believe ill of others, before we have duly examined it, is the effect of laziness and pride. We are eager to find aculprit, and loath to give ourselves the trouble of examining the crime.