When we disclaim praise, it is only showing our desire to be praised a second time.

Love has its name borrowed by a great number of dealings and affairs that are attributed to it--in which it has no greater part than the Doge in what is done at Venice.

When we exaggerate our friends' tenderness towards us, it is often less from gratitude than from a desire to exhibit our own virtue.

High fortune makes both our virtues and vices stand out as objects that are brought clearly to view by the light.

Whatever pretended causes we may blame our afflictions upon, it is often nothing but self-interest and vanity that produce them.

It is easier to understand mankind in general than any individual man.

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