Nothing ought more to humiliate men who have merited great praise than the care they still take to boast of little things.

The passions are the only orators that always persuade: they are, as it were, a natural art, the rules of which are infallible; and the simplest man with passion is more persuasive than the most eloquent without it.

Praise is a more ingenious, concealed, and subtle kind of flattery, that satisfies both the giver and the receiver, though by verydifferent ways. The one accepts it as a reward due to his merit; the other gives it that he may be looked upon as a just and discerning person.

The smallest fault of women who give themselves up to love is to love.

The moderation of people in prosperity is the effect of a smooth and composed temper, owing to the calm of their good fortune.

Old age is a tyrant, who forbids, under pain of death, the pleasures of youth.

Second-rate minds usually condemn everything beyond their grasp.