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.

There are no accidents so unlucky from which clever people are not able to reap some advantage, and none so lucky that the foolish are not able to turn them to their own disadvantage.

Our actions are like the terminations of verses, which we rhyme as we please.

To know oneself is not necessarily to improve oneself

He who refuses praise the first time that it is offered does so because he would hear it a second time.

Often we are firm from weakness, and audacious from timidity.

The aversion to lying is often a hidden ambition to render our words credible and weighty, and to attach a religious aspect to our conversation.