Things often offer themselves to our mind in a more finished form in the very first thought, than we might have made them by muchart and study.

Our own distrust gives a fair pretence for the knavery of other people.

Heat of blood makes young people change their inclinations often, and habit makes old ones keep to theirs a great while.

Moderation resembles temperance. We are not so unwilling to eat more, as afraid of doing ourselves harm by it.

Tricks and treachery are merely proofs of lack of skill.

Confidence always pleases those who receive it. It is a tribute we pay to their merit, a deposit we commit to their trust, a pledge that gives them a claim upon us, a kind of dependence to which we voluntarily submit.

Folly pursues us at all periods of our lives. If someone seems wise it is only because his follies are proportionate to his age and fortune.