We often bore others when we think we cannot possibly bore them.

Humility is the worst form of conceit.

A true friend is the most precious of all possessions and the one we take the least thought about acquiring.

Fortune makes our virtues and vices visible, just as light does the objects of sight.

The height of ability consists in a thorough knowledge of the real value of things, and of the genius of the age in which we live.

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.

Self-love makes our friends appear more or less deserving in proportion to the delight we take in them, and the measures by whichwe judge of their worth depend upon the manner of their conversing with us.