One man may be more cunning than another, but no one can be more cunning than all the world.

It is easier to deceive yourself, and to do so unperceived, than to deceive another.

We often pride ourselves on even the most criminal passions, but envy is a timid and shamefaced passion we never dare to acknowledge.

However greatly we distrust the sincerity of those we converse with, yet still we think they tell more truth to us than to anyone else.

Imagination does not enable us to invent as many different contradictions as there are by nature in every heart.

Nothing ought more to humiliate men who have merited great praise than the care they still take to boast of little things.

Lovers, when they are no longer in love, find it very hard to break up.