It is most difficult to speak when we are ashamed of being silent.

Happiness does not consist in things themselves but in the relish we have of them; and a man has attained it when he enjoys what he loves and desires himself, and not what other people think lovely and desirable.

Great souls are not those who have fewer passions and more virtues than others, but only those who have greater designs.

Gratitude is like the good faith of traders: it maintains commerce, and we often pay, not because it is just to discharge our debts, but that we may more readily find people to trust us.

The accent of a man's native country remains in his mind and his heart, as it does in his speech.

We have not enough strength to follow all our reason.

Tastes in young people are changed by natural impetuosity, and in the aged are preserved by habit.