A vain man finds it wise to speak good or ill of himself; a modest man does not talk of himself.

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.

The very essence of politeness seems to be to take care that by our words and actions we make other people pleased with us as well as with themselves.

Grief that is dazed and speechless is out of fashion: the modern woman mourns her husband loudly and tells you the whole story of his death, which distresses her so much that she forgets not the slightest detail about it.

Such a great misfortune, not to be able to be alone.

The pleasure of criticizing takes away from us the pleasure of being moved by some very fine things.

From time to time there appear on the face of the earth men of rare and consummate excellence, who dazzle us by their virtue, and whose outstanding qualities shed a stupendous light. Like those extraordinary stars of whose origins we are ignorant, and of whose fate, once they have vanished, we know even less, such men have neither forebears nor descendants: they are the whole of their race.