However glorious an action in itself, it ought not to pass for great if it be not the effect of wisdom and intention.

It is much easier to seem fitted for posts we do not fill than for those we do.

There is a sort of love whose very excessiveness prevents the lover's being jealous.

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

The only good imitations are those that poke fun at bad originals.

We label judges with having the meanest motives, and yet we desire that our reputation and fame should depend upon the judgment of men, who are all, either from their jealousy or preoccupation or want of intelligence, opposed to us - and yet despite their bias, just for the sake of making these men decide in our favor, we peril in so many ways both our peace and our life.

There are people who in spite of their merit disgust us and others who please us in spite of their faults.