The only good imitations are those that poke fun at bad originals.

In all professions each affects a look and an exterior to appear what he wishes the world to believe that he is. Thus we may say that the whole world is made up of appearances.

Funeral pomp is more for the vanity of the living than for the honor of the dead.

Happiness does not consist in things themselves but in the relish we have of them; and a man has attained it when he enjoys what he loves and desires himself, and not what other people think lovely and desirable.

Fortune makes our virtues and vices visible, just as light does the objects of sight.

One is never fortunate or as unfortunate as one imagines.

That good disposition which boasts of being most tender is often stifled by the least urging of self-interest.