Love of glory, fear of shame, greed for fortune, the desire to make life agreeable and comfortable, and the wish to depreciate others - all of these are often the causes of the bravery that is spoken so highly of by men.

What seems to be generosity is often no more than disguised ambition, which overlooks a small interest in order to secure a great one.

We have no patience with other people's vanity because it is offensive to our own.

It is with an old love as it is with old age a man lives to all the miseries, but is dead to all the pleasures.

Great men's honor ought always to be measured by the methods they made use of in attaining it.

Listening well and answering well is one of the greatest perfections that can be obtained in conversation.

We often brag that we are never bored with ourselves, and are so vain as never to think ourselves bad company.