To listen closely and reply well is the highest perfection we are able to attain in the art of conversation.

Everyone agrees that a secret should be kept intact, but everyone does not agree as to the nature and importance of secrecy. Too often we consult ourselves as to what we should say, what we should leave unsaid. There are few permanent secrets, and the scruple against revealing them will not last forever.

Some reproaches praise; some praises reproach.

What is called generosity is usually only the vanity of giving; we enjoy the vanity more than the thing given.

He who imagines he can do without the world deceives himself much; but he who fancies the world cannot do without him is still more mistaken.

Everyone complains of his memory, and nobody complains of his judgment.

Whatever pretended causes we may blame our afflictions upon, it is often nothing but self-interest and vanity that produce them.