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

Every man is valued in this world as he shows by his conduct that he wishes to be valued.

Discourtesy does not spring merely from one bad quality, but from several--from foolish vanity, from ignorance of what is due to others, from indolence, from stupidity, from distraction of thought, from contempt of others, from jealousy.

A wise man is not governed by others, nor does he try to govern them; he prefers that reason alone prevail.

There is as much trickery required to grow rich by a stupid book as there is folly in buying it.

The same vices which are huge and insupportable in others we do not feel in ourselves.

It would be a kind of ferocity to reject indifferently all sorts of praise. One should be glad to have that which comes from good men who praise in sincerity things that are really praiseworthy.