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.

Avarice is more opposite to economy than liberality.

Generally speaking, we would make a good bargain by renouncing all the good that people say of us, upon condition they would say no ill.

Gratitude is like credit; it is the backbone of our relations; frequently we pay our debts not because equity demands that we should, but to facilitate future loans.

If it were not for the company of fools, a witty man would often be greatly at a loss.

Were we faultless, we would not derive such satisfaction from remarking the faults of others.

No matter how much care we put into hiding our passions under the appearances of devotion and honor, they can always be seen to peer out through these covers.