A blockhead cannot come in, nor go away, nor sit, nor rise, nor stand, like a man of sense.

The Great slight the men of wit, who have nothing but wit; the men of wit despise the Great, who have nothing but greatness; the good man pities them both, if with greatness or wit they have not virtue.

Grief at the absence of a loved one is happiness compared to life with a person one hates.

We wish to constitute all the happiness, or, if that cannot be, the misery of the one we love.

As a man falls out of favour and his wealth declines, we discover for the first time the ridiculous aspects of his character, which were always there but which wealth and favour had concealed.

A man may have intelligence enough to excel in a particular thing and lecture on it, and yet not have sense enough to know he ought to be silent on some other subject of which he has but a slight knowledge; if such an illustrious man ventures beyond the bounds of his capacity, he loses his way and talks like a fool.

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.