Jealousy is never satisfied with anything short of an omniscience that would detect the subtlest fold of the heart.

Half the sorrows of women would be averted if they could repress the speech they know to be useless-nay, the speech they have resolved not to utter.

Affection is the broadest basis of a good life.

If we only look far enough off for the consequence of our actions, we can always find some point in the combination of results by which those actions can be justified: by adopting the point of view of a Providence who arranges results, or of a philosopher who traces them, we shall find it possible to obtain perfect complacency in choosing to do what is most agreeable to us in the present moment.

The wrong that rouses our angry passions finds only a medium in us; it passes through us like a vibration, and we inflict what we have suffered.

What novelty is worth that sweet monotony where everything is known, and loved because it is known?

People who can't be witty exert themselves to be devout and affectionate.