Whatever pretext we may give for our affections, often it is only interest and vanity which cause them.

Our repentances are generally not so much a concern and remorse for the harm we have done, as a fear of the harm we may have brought upon ourselves.

The art of putting into play mediocre qualities often begets more reputation than is achieved by true merit.

We own up to minor failings, but only so as to convince others that we have no major ones.

A wise man thinks it more advantageous not to join the battle than to win.

Gracefulness is to the body what understanding is to the mind.

Clemency, which we make a virtue of, proceeds sometimes from vanity, sometimes from indolence, often from fear, and almost always from a mixture of all three.