We should wish for few things with eagerness, if we perfectly knew the nature of that which was the object of our desire.

There is no disguise which can hide love for long where it exists, or simulate it where it does not.

In great affairs we ought to apply ourselves less to creating chances than to profiting from those that offer.

What is called liberality is often merely the vanity of giving.

There is a kind of elevation which does not depend on fortune; it is a certain air which distinguishes us, and seems to destine us for great things; it is a price which we imperceptibly set upon ourselves.

It is much easier to seem fitted for posts we do not fill than for those we do.

The best way to rise in society is to use all possible means of persuading people that one has already risen in society.