We can never be certain of our courage until we have faced danger.

To boast that one never flirts is actually a kind of flirtation.

We should scarcely desire things ardently if we were perfectly acquainted with what we desire.

The desire which urges us to deserve praise strengthens our good qualities, and praise given to wit, valour, and beauty, tends to increase them.

We forget our faults easily when they are known to ourselves alone.

The only thing that should astonish us is that anything can yet astonish us.

The reason why so few people are agreeable in conversation is that each is thinking more about what he intends to say than others are saying.