When the philosophers despised riches, it was because they had a mind to vindicate their own merit, and take revenge upon the injustice of fortune by vilifying those enjoyments which she had not given them.

Propriety is the least of all laws, and the most observed.

Few people have the wisdom to prefer the criticism that would do them good, to the praise that deceives them.

Idleness is more an infirmity of the mind than of the body.

It seems that nature, which has so wisely disposed our bodily organs with a view to our happiness, has also bestowed on us pride, to spare us the pain of being aware of our imperfections.

Love often leads on to ambition, but seldom does one return from ambition to love.

We may say of agreeableness, as distinct from beauty, that it consists in a symmetry of which we know not the rules, and a secret conformity of the features to each other, as also to the air and complexion of the person.