We should scarcely desire things ardently if we were perfectly acquainted with what we desire.

Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would be capable of doing with the world looking on.

The one thing people are the most liberal with, is their advice.

It is often laziness and timidity that keep us within our duty while virtue gets all the credit.

Envy is more incapable of reconciliation than hatred is.

Old people love to give good advice; it compensates them for their inability to set a bad example.

We are much harder on people who betray us in small ways than on people who betray others in great ones.