There is scarcely any man sufficiently clever to appreciate all the evil he does.

We rarely ever perceive others as being sensible, except for those who agree with us.

It is easier to deceive yourself, and to do so unperceived, than to deceive another.

Silence is the safest course for any man to adopt who distrust himself.

The most subtle of our acts is to simulate blindness for snares that we know are set for us.

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

The health of the soul is as precarious as that of the body; for when we seem secure from passions, we are no less in danger of their infection than we are of falling ill when we appear to be well.