All the passions make us commit faults; love makes us commit the most ridiculous ones.

Praise is a more ingenious, concealed, and subtle kind of flattery, that satisfies both the giver and the receiver, though by verydifferent ways. The one accepts it as a reward due to his merit; the other gives it that he may be looked upon as a just and discerning person.

For the credit of virtue we must admit that the greatest misfortunes of men are those into which they fall through their crimes.

No matter how much care we put into hiding our passions under the appearances of devotion and honor, they can always be seen to peer out through these covers.

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

Happiness is in the taste, and not in the things.

If there be a love pure and free from the admixture of our other passions, it is that which lies hidden in the bottom of our heart, and which we know not ourselves.