Flattery is a kind of bad money, to which our vanity gives us currency.

Interest blinds some people, and enlightens others.

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

Sincerity is an openness of heart; we find it in very few people; what we usually see is only an artful dissimulation to win the confidence of others.

It is necessary, in order to know things well, to know the particulars of them; and these, being infinite, make our knowledge eversuperficial and imperfect.

The boldest stroke and best act of friendship is not to disclose our own failings to a friend, but to show him his own.

The trust that we put in ourselves makes us feel trust in others.