Everyone agrees that a secret should be kept intact, but everyone does not agree as to the nature and importance of secrecy. Too often we consult ourselves as to what we should say, what we should leave unsaid. There are few permanent secrets, and the scruple against revealing them will not last forever.

To awaken a man who is deceived as to his own merit is to do him as bad a turn as that done to the Athenian madman who was happy in believing that all the ships touching at the port belonged to him.

He who lives without folly isn't so wise as he thinks.

Flattery is a counterfeit money which, but for vanity, would have no circulation.

Avarice is more opposite to economy than liberality.

Nothing is more ridiculous in old people that were once good-looking, than to forget that they are not so still.

Envy is more incapable of reconciliation than hatred is.