We should desire very few things passionately if we did but perfectly know the nature of the things we desire.

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.

He that fancies such a sufficiency in himself that he can live without all the world is greatly mistaken; but he that imagines himself so necessary that other people cannot live without him is a great deal more mistaken.

One can find women who have never had one love affair, but it is rare indeed to find any who have had only one.

It is not expedient or wise to examine our friends too closely; few persons are raised in our esteem by a close examination.

Whatever discoveries we may have made in the regions of self-love, there still remain many unknown lands.

Moderation is represented as a virtue in order to restrain the ambition of great men, and to console those of a meaner condition in their lesser merit and fortune.