The passions often engender their contraries.

We can never be certain of our courage until we have faced danger.

We are almost always bored by just those whom we must not find boring.

He who refuses praise the first time that it is offered does so because he would hear it a second time.

One kind of happiness is to know exactly at what point to be miserable.

It is oftener by the estimation of our own feelings that we exaggerate the good qualities of others than by their merit, and when we praise them we wish to attract their praise.

Our hopes, often though they deceive us, lead us pleasantly along the path of life.