Men who pay their tailors never amount to anything, they never even become Cabinet ministers.

Yes, I can understand that a man might go to a gambling table when he sees that all that lies between him and death is his last crown.

While seeking out the dead, I see nothing but the living.

The great secret of social alchemy is to profit best from each stage in our lives, to gather all its leaves in spring, all its flowers in summer, and all its fruits in autumn.

Hope is a light diet, but very stimulating.

No hawk swooping down upon his prey, no stag improvising new detours by which to trick the huntsman, no dog scenting game from afar is comparable in speed to the celerity of a salesman when he gets wind a deal, to his skill in tripping up or forestalling a rival, and to the art with which he sniffs out and discovers a possible sale.

A knowledge of mankind and of things that surround us gives us that second education which proves far move valuable than our first because it alone turns out a truly accomplished man.