Confidence always pleases those who receive it. It is a tribute we pay to their merit, a deposit we commit to their trust, a pledge that gives them a claim upon us, a kind of dependence to which we voluntarily submit.

There are a great many men valued in society who have nothing to recommend them but serviceable vices.

The judgments our enemies make about us come nearer to the truth than those we make about ourselves.

There may be talent without position, but there is no position without some kind of talent.

The sicknesses of the soul have their ups and downs like those of the body; what we take to be a cure is most often merely a respite or change of disease.

One should treat one's fate as one does one's health; enjoy it when it is good, be patient with it when it is poor, and never attempt any drastic cure save as an ultimate resort.

We are sometimes as different from ourselves as we are from others.