That good disposition which boasts of being most tender is often stifled by the least urging of self-interest.

Some people displease with merit, and others' very faults and defects are pleasing.

The reason why lovers are never bored together is that they are always talking of themselves.

How can we expect another to keep our secret if we have been unable to keep it ourselves?

What we call generosity is for the most part only the vanity of giving; and we exercise it because we are more fond of that vanity than of the thing we give.

Self-love, as it happens to be well or ill conducted, constitutes virtue and vice.

Few things are needed to make a wise man happy; nothing can make a fool content; that is why most men are miserable.