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

Those who are overreached by our cunning are far from appearing to us as ridiculous as we appear to ourselves when the cunning of others has overreached us.

We do not wish ardently for what we desire only through reason.

What makes us so bitter against people who outwit us is that they think themselves cleverer than we are.

There are no circumstances, however unfortunate, that clever people do not extract some advantage from.

Great names abase, instead of elevating, those who do not know how to bear them.

It seems that nature, which has so wisely disposed our bodily organs with a view to our happiness, has also bestowed on us pride, to spare us the pain of being aware of our imperfections.