Many men are contemptuous of riches; few can give them away.

We own up to minor failings, but only so as to convince others that we have no major ones.

We may seem great in an employment below our worth, but we very often look little in one that is too big for us.

Being a blockhead is sometimes the best security against being cheated by a man of wit.

The most brilliant fortunes are often not worth the littleness required to gain them.

What seems to be generosity is often no more than disguised ambition, which overlooks a small interest in order to secure a great one.

The strongest symptom of wisdom in man is his being sensible of his own follies.