There are people who in spite of their merit disgust us and others who please us in spite of their faults.

To listen closely and reply well is the highest perfection we are able to attain in the art of conversation.

We love everything on our own account; we even follow our own taste and inclination when we prefer our friends to ourselves; and yet it is this preference alone that constitutes true and perfect friendship.

Avarice often produces opposite results: there are an infinite number of persons who sacrifice their property to doubtful and distant expectations; others mistake great future advantages for small present interests.

It is a common fault never to be satisfied with our fortune, nor dissatisfied with our understanding.

Every one speaks well of his own heart, but no one dares speak well of his own mind.

Philosophy triumphs easily over past evils and future evils, but present evils triumph over it.