Luxury possibly may contribute to give bread to the poor; but if there were no luxury, there would be no poor.

Parsimony is enough to make the master of the golden mines as poor as he that has nothing; for a man may be brought to a morsel of bread by parsimony as well as profusion.

We part more easily with what we possess, than with our expectations of what we wish for; because expectation always goes beyond enjoyment.

Custom is the great leveller. It corrects the inequality of fortune by lessening equally the pleasures of the prince and the pains of the peasant.

The mind is never more highly gratified than in contemplating a natural landscape.

When you descant on the faults of others, consider whether you be not guilty of the same. To gain knowledge of ourselves, the best way is to convert the imperfections of others into a mirror for discovering our own.

Nothing more excites to everything noble and generous, than virtuous love.