Favor exalts a man above his equals, but his dismissal from that favor places him below them.

High birth is a gift of fortune which should never challenge esteem towards those who receive it, since it costs them neither study nor labor.

Genius and great abilities are often wanting; sometimes, only opportunities. Some deserve praise for what they have done; others for what they would have done.

If it be usual to be strongly impressed by things that are scarce, why are we so little impressed by virtue?

Caprice in woman is the antidote to beauty.

When we have run through all forms of government, without partiality to that we were born under, we are at a loss with which to side; they are all a compound of good and evil. It is therefore most reasonable and safe to value that of our own country above all others, and to submit to it.

They who, without any previous knowledge of us, think amiss of us, do us no harm; they attack not us, but the phantom of their own imagination.