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.

We should often feel ashamed of our best actions if the world could see all the motives which produced them.

Love of fame, fear of disgrace, schemes for advancement, desire to make life comfortable and pleasant, and the urge to humiliate others are often at the root of the valour men hold in such high esteem.

The secret of pleasing in conversation is not to explain too much everything; to say them half and leave a little for divination is a mark of the good opinion we have of others, and nothing flatters their self-love more.

It is almost always a fault of one who loves not to realize when he ceases to be loved.

We are much mistaken if we think that men are always brave from a principle of valor, or women chaste from a principle of modesty.

Few things are impossible in themselves: application to make them succeed fails us more often than the means.