When fortune surprises us by giving us some great office without having gradually led us to expect it, or without having raised our hopes, it is well nigh impossible to occupy it well, and to appear worthy to fill it.

The measure of great men should always be measured by the means they have used to acquire it.

The force we use on ourselves, to prevent ourselves from loving, is often more cruel than the severest treatment at the hands of one loved.

There are more defects in temperament than in the mind.

One is never as happy or as unhappy as one thinks.

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 more often from pride than from ignorance that we are so obstinately opposed to current opinions; we find the first places taken, and we do not want to be the last.