What we call generosity is for the most part only the vanity of giving; and we exercise it because we are more fond of that vanity than of the thing we give.

A man convinced of his own merit will accept misfortune as an honor, for thus can he persuade others, as well as himself, that he is a worthy target for the arrows of fate.

We seldom find people ungrateful so long as it is thought we can serve them.

Self-interest makes some people blind, and others sharp-sighted.

Idleness and fear keeps us in the path of duty, but our virtue often gets the praise.

Moderation cannot have the credit of combatiug and subduing ambition, they are never found together. Moderation is the languor and indolence of the soul, as ambition is its activity and ardor.

Idleness is more an infirmity of the mind than of the body.