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

A man can keep another's secret better than his own. A woman her own better than others.

Politeness does not always inspire goodness, equity, complaisance, and gratitude; it gives at least the appearance of these qualities, and makes man appear outwardly, as he should be within.

Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment.

The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let people see clearly that it is in their interest to promote yours.

A man has made great progress in cunning when he does not seem too clever to others.

A man is thirty years old before he has any settled thoughts of his fortune; it is not completed before fifty. He falls to building in his old age, and dies by the time his house is in a condition to be painted and glazed.