The most important things must be said simply, for they are spoiled by bombast; whereas trivial things must be described grandly, for they are supported only by aptness of expression, tone and manner.

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.

All of our unhappiness comes from our inability to be alone.

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

A man who is free and unmarried, if he has some intelligence, can rise above his fortune, mingle in society and meet the best people on an equal footing. This is harder for a married man: marriage, it seems, confines every man to his proper rank.

One faithful Friend is enough for a man's self, 'tis much to meet with such an one, yet we can't have too many for the sake of others.

The slave has but one master, the ambitious man has as many as there are persons whose aid may contribute to the advancement of his fortunes.