Wit is the god of moments, but Genius is the god of ages.

We seldom repent of speaking little, very often of speaking too much: a vulgar and trite maxim, which all the world knows and, but which all the world does not practice

Men fall from great fortune because of the same shortcomings that led to their rise.

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?

Extremes are vicious, and proceed from men; compensation is just, and proceeds from God.

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

That man is good who does good to others; if he suffers on account of the good he does, he is very good; if he suffers at the hands of those to whom he has done good, then his goodness is so great that it could be enhanced only by greater sufferings; and if he should die at their hands, his virtue can go no further: it is heroic, it is perfect.