There are only three events in a man's life; birth, life, and death; he is not conscious of being born, he dies in pain, and he forgets to live.

It is a proof of boorishness to confer a favor with a bad grace; it is the act of giving that is hard and painful. How little does a smile cost?

Outward simplicity befits ordinary men, like a garment made to measure for them; but it serves as an adornment to those who have filled their lives with great deeds: they might be compared to some beauty carelessly dressed and thereby all the more attractive.

Avoid lawsuits beyond all things; they pervert your conscience, impair your health, and dissipate your property.

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

One should never risk a joke, even of the mildest and most unexceptional charters, except among people of culture and wit.

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