Praise is flattery, artful, hidden, delicate, which gratifies differently him who praises and him who is praised. The one takes it as the reward of merit, the other bestows it to show his impartiality and knowledge.

A fashionable woman is always in love - with herself.

The person giving the advice returns the confidence placed in him with a disinterested eagerness... and he is usually guided only by his own interest or reputation.

The passions often engender their contraries.

A great many men's gratitude is nothing but a secret desire to hook in more valuable kindnesses hereafter.

Men more easily renounce their interests than their tastes.

Few things are impossible in themselves: application to make them succeed fails us more often than the means.