We say that someone occupies an official position, whereas it is the official position that occupies him.

It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody's beard.

The highest level than can be reached by a mediocre but experienced mind is a talent for uncovering the weaknesses of those greater than itself.

I forget most of what I read, just as I do most of what I have eaten, but I know that both contribute no less to the conservation of my mind and my body on that account.

Virtue by premeditation isn't worth much.

The noble simplicity in the works of nature only too often originates in the noble shortsightedness of him who observes it.

To many people virtue consists chiefly in repenting faults, not in avoiding them.