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

To what excesses do men rush for the sake of religion, of whose truth they are so little persuaded, and to whose precepts they pay so little regard!

There are few wives so perfect as not to give their husbands at least once a day good reason to repent of ever having married, or at least of envying those who are unmarried.

The nearer we come to great men the more clearly we see that they are only men. They rarely seem great to their valets.

A lovely countenance is the fairest of all sights, and the sweetest harmony is the sound of the voice of her whom we love.

How much wit, good-nature, indulgences, how many good offices and civilities, are required among friends to accomplish in some years what a lovely face or a fine hand does in a minute!

A prince wants only the pleasure of private life to complete his happiness.