A man of the world must seem to be what he wishes to be thought.
I take sanctuary in an honest mediocrity.
One must laugh before one is happy, or one may die without ever laughing at all.
A coxcomb is one whom simpletons believe to be a man of merit.
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.
The mind, like all other things, will become impaired, the sciences are its food,--they nourish, but at the same time they consume it.