Sincerity is an openness of heart; we find it in very few people; what we usually see is only an artful dissimulation to win the confidence of others.

Were we not proud ourselves, we should not complain of the pride of others.

To be a great man it is necessary to turn to account all opportunities.

Our hopes, often though they deceive us, lead us pleasantly along the path of life.

Commonplace minds usually condemn what is beyond the reach of their understanding.

The contempt of riches in philosophers was only a hidden desire to avenge their merit upon the injustice of fortune, by despising the very goods of which fortune had deprived them; it was a secret to guard themselves against the degradation of poverty, it was a back way by which to arrive at that distinction which they could not gain by riches.

Our virtues are often, in reality, no better than vices disguised.