Loyalty is in most people only a ruse used by self-interest to attract confidence.

The happiness and misery of men depend no less on temper than fortune.

The man that thinks he loves his mistress for her own sake is mightily mistaken.

We should often blush at our noblest deeds if the world were to see all their underlying motives.

The height of ability consists in a thorough knowledge of the real value of things, and of the genius of the age in which we live.

It is much better to learn to deal with the ills we have now than to speculate on those that may befall us.

The greatest of all gifts is the power to estimate things at their true worth