Those who are condemned to death affect sometimes a constancy and contempt for death which is only the fear of facing it; so that one may say that this constancy and contempt are to their mind what the bandage is to their eyes.

Sometimes we think we dislike flattery, but it is only the way it is done that we dislike.

One kind of happiness is to know exactly at what point to be miserable.

Great names abase, instead of elevating, those who do not know how to bear them.

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

Some people are so extremely whiffling and inconsiderable that they are as far from any real faults as from substantial virtues.

Avarice is more directly opposed to thrift than generosity is.