Decency is the least of all laws, but yet it is the law which is most strictly observed.

Gratitude is a lively sense of benefits to come.

Consolation for unhappiness can often be found in a certain satisfaction we get from looking unhappy.

Our distrust of another justifies his deceit.

We are not fond of praising, and never praise any one except from interested motives. Praise is a clever, concealed, and delicate flattery, which gratifies in different ways the giver and the receiver. The one takes it as a recompense of his merit, and the other bestows it to display his equity and discernment.

Affected simplicity is an elegant imposture.

In misfortune we often mistake dejection for constancy; we bear it without daring to look on it; like cowards, who suffer themselves to be murdered without resistance.