We are not fond of praising, and never praise any one except from interested motives. Praise is a clever, concealed, and delicate flattery, which gratifies in different ways the giver and the receiver. The one takes it as a recompense of his merit, and the other bestows it to display his equity and discernment.

We would frequently be ashamed of our good deeds if people saw all of the motives that produced them.

Our aversion to lying is commonly a secret ambition to make what we say considerable, and have every word received with a religious respect.

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

Without humility, we keep all our defects; and they are only crusted over by pride, which conceals them from others, and often from ourselves.

Minds of moderate caliber ordinarily condemn everthing which is beyond their range.

Sincerity is an openness of heart; we find it in very few people; what we usually see is only an artful dissimulation to win the confidence of others.