A clever man reaps some benefit from the worst catastrophe, and a fool can turn even good luck to his disadvantage.

The desire of appearing clever often prevents our becoming so.

Hope is the last thing that dies in man; and though it be exceedingly deceitful, yet it is of this good use to us, that while we are traveling through life it conducts us in an easier and more pleasant way to our journey's end.

The head does not know how to play the part of the heart for long.

Great souls are not those who have fewer passions and more virtues than others, but only those who have greater designs.

Very few people are acquainted with death. They undergo it, commonly, not so much out of resolution as custom and insensitivity; and most men die because they cannot help it.

The great interests of man: air and light, the joy of having a body, the voluptuousness of looking.