It is often hard to determine whether a clear, open, and honorable proceeding is the result of goodness or of cunning.

Men are inconsolable concerning the treachery of their friends or the deceptions of their enemies; and yet they are often very highly satisfied to be both deceived and betrayed by their own selves.

Clemency, which we make a virtue of, proceeds sometimes from vanity, sometimes from indolence, often from fear, and almost always from a mixture of all three.

The more one loves a mistress, the more one is ready to hate her.

Many people despise wealth, but few know how to give it away.

There is a kind of elevation which does not depend on fortune; it is a certain air which distinguishes us, and seems to destine us for great things; it is a price which we imperceptibly set upon ourselves.

As it is the characteristic of great wits to say much in few words, so small wits seem to have the gift of speaking much and saying nothing.