The nearer we approach great men, the clearer we see that they are men.

The most amiable people are those who least wound the self-love of others.

The mind, like all other things, will become impaired, the sciences are its food,--they nourish, but at the same time they consume it.

Next to sound judgment, diamonds and pearls are the rarest things in the world.

Laziness begat wearisomeness, and this put men in quest of diversions, play and company, on which however it is a constant attendant; he who works hard, has enough to do with himself otherwise.

We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together.

Discourtesy does not spring merely from one bad quality, but from several--from foolish vanity, from ignorance of what is due to others, from indolence, from stupidity, from distraction of thought, from contempt of others, from jealousy.