In friendship as well as love, ignorance very often contributes more to our happiness than knowledge.

The mark of extraordinary merit is to see those most envious of it constrained to praise.

Our hopes, often though they deceive us, lead us pleasantly along the path of life.

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.

The judgments our enemies make about us come nearer to the truth than those we make about ourselves.

Hope and fear are inseparable. There is no hope without fear, nor any fear without hope.

The intention of cheating no one lays us open to being cheated ourselves.