It is much easier to seem fitted for posts we do not fill than for those we do.

The sure mark of one born with noble qualities is being born without envy.

Old men delight in giving good advice as a consolation for the fact that they can no longer set bad examples.

The more one loves a mistress, the more one is ready to hate her.

Selfishness is the grand moving principle of nine-tenths of our actions.

It is impossible to love a second time what we have really ceased to love.

All our qualities, whether good or bad, are unstable and ambiguous, and almost all are at the mery of chance.