All our qualities, whether good or bad, are unstable and ambiguous, and almost all are at the mery of chance.

There are no circumstances, however unfortunate, that clever people do not extract some advantage from.

There are but very few men clever enough to know all the mischief they do.

None but great men are capable of having great flaws.

One kind of flirtation is to boast we never flirt.

On why I don't trust democracy without extremely powerful systems of accountability and recall What seems to be generosity is often only disguised ambition - which despises small interests to gain great ones.

The man who leaves a woman best pleased with herself is the one whom she will soonest wish to see.