What you have been obliged to discover by yourself leaves a path in your mind which you can use again when the need arises.

A good part of the fame of most celebrated men is due to the shortsightedness of their admirers

To be content with life or to live merrily, rather all that is required is that we bestow on all things only a fleeting, superficial glance; the more thoughtful we become the more earnest we grow.

Many intelligent people, when about to write . . . , force on their minds a certain notion about style, just as they screw up their faces when they sit for their portraits.

There exists a species of transcendental ventriloquism by means of which men can be made to believe that something said on earth comes from Heaven.

Good taste is either that which agrees with my taste or that which subjects itself to the rule of reason. From this we can see how useful it is to employ reason in seeking out the laws of taste.

Affectation is a very good word when someone does not wish to confess to what he would none the less like to believe of himself.