An egotist will always speak of himself, either in praise or in censure, but a modest man ever shuns making himself the subject of his conversation.

When a work lifts your spirits and inspires bold and noble thoughts in you, do not look for any other standard to judge by: the work is good, the product of a master craftsman.

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.

It is a great misfortune neither to have enough wit to talk well nor enough judgment to be silent.

It is virtue which should determine us in the choice of our friends, without inquiring into their good or evil fortune.

Widows, like ripe fruit, drop easily from their perch.

Rarely do they appear great before their valets.