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

We seldom find people ungrateful so long as it is thought we can serve them.

Sincerity is an openness of heart; we find it in very few people; what we usually see is only an artful dissimulation to win the confidence of others.

It is as common for tastes to change as it is uncommon for traits of character.

Some good qualities are like the senses: Those who are entirely deprived of them can have no notion of them.

Our desires always disappoint us; for though we meet with something that gives us satisfaction, yet it never thoroughly answers our expectation. [However disappointment can always be removed if we remember it could have turned out worse.]

Whatever pretended causes we may blame our afflictions upon, it is often nothing but self-interest and vanity that produce them.