There is nothing which continues longer than a moderate fortune; nothing of which one sees sooner the end than a large fortune.

We rarely repent of speaking little, but often of speaking too much.

I do not doubt but that genuine piety is the spring of peace of mind; it enables us to bear the sorrows of life, and lessens the pangs of death: the same cannot be said of hypocrisy.

A man starts upon a sudden, takes Pen, Ink, and Paper, and without ever having had a thought of it before, resolves within himself he will write a Book; he has no Talent at Writing, but he wants fifty Guineas.

People reveal their character even in the simplest things they do. Fools do not enter a room, nor leave it, nor sit down, nor rise, nor are they silent, nor do they stand up, like people of sense and understanding.

The Opera is obviously the first draft of a fine spectacle; it suggests the idea of one.

Caprice in woman is the antidote to beauty.