Grief ennobles the commonest people because it has its own essential grandeur. To shine with the luster of grief, a person need only be sincere.

A murderer is less loathsome to us than a spy. The murderer may have acted on a sudden mad impulse; he may be penitent and amend; but a spy is always a spy, night and day, in bed, at table, as he walks abroad; his vileness pervades every moment of his life

Tradesmen regard an author with a mixed feeling of terror, compassion and curiosity.

Love and work have the virtues of making a man pretty indifferent to anything else.

Death is as unexpected in his caprice as a courtesan in her disdain; but death is truer – Death has never forsaken any man

Conscience is our unerring judge until we finally stifle it.

Our worst misfortunes never happen, and most miseries lie in anticipation.