It is a great act of cleverness to be able to conceal one's being clever.

Most men, like plants, possess hidden qualities which chance discovers.

We seldom praise anyone in good earnest, except such as admire us.

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.

It is easier to fall in love when you are out of it than to get out of it when you are in.

The love of new acquaintance comes not so much from being weary of what we had before, or from any satisfaction there is in change, as from the distaste we feel in being too little admired by those that know us too well, and the hope of being more admired by those that know us less.

We exaggerate the glory of some men in order to detract from that of others.