In great affairs we ought to apply ourselves less to creating chances than to profiting from those that offer.

To establish oneself in the world, one does all one can to seem established there already.

It is almost always a fault of one who loves not to realize when he ceases to be loved.

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

We should gain more by letting the world see what we are than by trying to seem what we are not.

The accent of a man's native country remains in his mind and his heart, as it does in his speech.

It is the habit of mediocre minds to condemn all that is beyond their grasp.