An infallible way to make your child miserable is to satisfy all his demands. Passion swells by gratification; and the impossibility of satisfying every one of his demands will oblige you to stop short at last, after he has become a little headstrong.

Violent passions are formed in solitude. In the busy world no object has time to make a deep impression.

The sordid meal of the Cynics contributed neither to their tranquillity nor to their modesty. Pride went with Diogenes into his tub; and there he had the presumption to command Alexander the haughtiest of all men.

Beauty loses its relish; the graces never.

Were wisdom to be sold, she would give no price; every man is satisfied with the share he has from nature.

Men are guided less by conscience than by glory; and yet the shortest way to glory is to be guided by conscience.

Logic is the art of thinking well: the mind, like the body, requires to be trained before it can use its powers in the most advantageous way.