The thing that makes our friendships so short and changeable is that the qualities and dispositions of the soul are very hard to know, and those of the understanding and wit very easy.

It is not expedient or wise to examine our friends too closely; few persons are raised in our esteem by a close examination.

If there be a love pure and free from the admixture of our other passions, it is that which lies hidden in the bottom of our heart, and which we know not ourselves.

A man often believes himself leader when he is led; as his mind endeavors to reach one goal, his heart insensibly drags him towards another.

Our enemies' opinion of us comes closer to the truth than our own.

The greater part of mankind judge of men only by their fashionableness or their fortune.

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.