Eloquence resides as much in the tone of voice, in the eyes, and in the expression of the face, as in the choice of words.

The greatest part of our faults are more excusable than the methods that are commonly taken to conceal them.

It often happens that things come into the mind in a more finished form than could have been achieved after much study.

When the philosophers despised riches, it was because they had a mind to vindicate their own merit, and take revenge upon the injustice of fortune by vilifying those enjoyments which she had not given them.

Some people resemble ballads which are only sung for a certain time.

In the human heart new passions are forever being born; the overthrow of one almost always means the rise of another.

There is a form of eminence which does not depend on fate; it is an air which sets us apart and seems to prtend great things; it is the value which we unconsciously attach to ourselves; it is the quality which wins us deference of others; more than birth, position, or ability, it gives us ascendance.