It is more often from pride than from ignorance that we are so obstinately opposed to current opinions; we find the first places taken, and we do not want to be the last.

A man often thinks he rules himself, when all the while he is ruled and managed; and while his understanding directs one design, his affections imperceptibly draw him into another.

The prospect of being pleased tomorrow will never console me for the boredom of today.

In the misfortunes of our best friends we always find something not altogether displeasing to us.

Imagination could never invent the number of different contradictions that exist innately in each person's heart.

How can we be answerable for what we shall want in the future, since we have no clear idea of what we want now?

The sicknesses of the soul have their ups and downs like those of the body; what we take to be a cure is most often merely a respite or change of disease.