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

A well-born man is fortunate, but so is the man about whom people no longer ask, 'is he well-born?'

He who excels in his art so as to carry it to the utmost height of perfection of which it is capable may be said in some measure to go beyond it: his transcendent productions admit of no appellations.

One seeks to make the loved one entirely happy, or, if that cannot be, entirely wretched.

Days, months, years fly away, and irrecoverably sink in the abyss of time.

Incivility is not a Vice of the Soul, but the effect of several Vices; of Vanity, Ignorance of Duty, Laziness, Stupidity, Distraction, Contempt of others, and Jealousy.

The passion of hatred is so long lived and so obstinate a malady that the surest sign of death in a sick person is their desire for reconciliation.