A small degree of wit, accompanied by good sense, is less tiresome in the long run than a great amount of wit without it.

It is a great act of cleverness to be able to conceal one's being clever.

Nothing ought more to humiliate men who have merited great praise than the care they still take to boast of little things.

How can we be answerable for what we shall want in the future, since we have no clear idea of what we want now?

The best way to rise in society is to use all possible means of persuading people that one has already risen in society.

That which occasions so many mistakes in the computations of men, when they expect return for favors, is that the giver's pride and the receiver's cannot agree upon the value of the kindness done.

Our merit gains us the esteem of the virtuous-our star that of the public.