Avarice misapprehends itself almost always. There is no passion which more often will miss its aim, nor upon which the present has so much influence to the prejudice of the future.

To praise princes for virtues they do not possess is to insult them without fear of consequences.

Treachery is more often the effect of weakness than of a formed design.

Whilst weakness and timidity keep us to our duty, virtue has often all the honor.

It is not always for virtue's sake that women are virtuous.

Flattery is false money, which would not be current were it not for our vanity.

Nothing is so contagious as example.