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

No man is so perfect, so necessary to his friends as to give them no cause to miss him less.

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

Even the best intentioned of great men need a few scoundrels around them; there are some things you cannot ask an honest ma to do.

A vain man finds it wise to speak good or ill of himself; a modest man does not talk of himself.

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

The events we most desire do not happen; or, if they do, it is neither in the time nor in the circumstances when they would have given us extreme pleasure.