The worst of marriage is that it makes a woman believe that all men are just as easy to fool.

For it is mutual trust, even more than mutual interest that holds human associations together.

The State is not force alone. It depends upon the credulity of man quite as much as upon his docility. Its aim is not merely to make him obey, but also to make him want to obey.

Balloonists have an unsurpassed view of the scenery, but there is always the possibility that it may collide with them.

Lying is not only excusable; it is not only innocent; it is, above all, necessary and unavoidable. Without the ameliorations that it offers, life would become a mere syllogism and hence too metallic to be borne.

Never argue with a man whose job depends on not being convinced.

Don't tell me what delusion he entertains regarding God, or what mountebank he follows in politics, or what he springs from, or what he submits to from his wife. Simply tell me how he makes his living. It is the safest and surest of all known tests. A man who gets his board and lodging on this ball in an ignominious way is inevitably an ignominious man.