Love seizes us suddenly, without giving warning, and our disposition or our weakness favors the surprise; one look, one glance, from the fair fixes and determines us.

It is boorish to live ungraciously: the giving is the hardest part; what does it cost to add a smile?

Don't wait to be happy to laugh... You may die and never have laughed.

The best thing next to wit is a consciousness that it is not in us; without wit, a man might then know how to behave himself, so as not to appear to be a fool or a coxcomb.

It is motive alone that gives real value to the actions of men, and disinterestedness puts the cap to it.

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

There are some extraordinary fathers, who seem, during the whole course of their lives, to be giving their children reasons for being consoled at their death.