To be among people one loves, that's sufficient; to dream, to speak to them, to be silent among them, to think of indifferent things; but among them, everything is equal.

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.

Cheats easily believe others as bad as themselves; there is no deceiving them, nor do they long deceive.

The first day one is a guest, the second a burden, and the third a pest.

Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us in all the duties of life; cunning is a kind of instinct, that only looks out after our immediate interests and welfare. Discretion is only found in men of strong sense and good understanding; cunning is often to be met with in brutes themselves, and in persons who are but the fewest removes from them.

I take sanctuary in an honest mediocrity.

There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting, public speaking.