In art them is a point of perfection, as of goodness or maturity in nature; he who is able to perceive it, and who loves it, has perfect taste; he who does not feel it, or loves on this side or that, has an imperfect taste.

If you suppress the exorbitant love of pleasure and money, idle curiosity, iniquitous pursuits and wanton mirth, what a stillness would there be in the greatest cities.

The spendthrift robs his heirs the miser robs himself.

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

An assembly of the states, a court of justice, shows nothing so serious and grave as a table of gamesters playing very high; a melancholy solicitude clouds their looks; envy and rancor agitate their minds while the meeting lasts, without regard to friendship, alliances, birth or distinctions.

The mind, like all other things, will become impaired, the sciences are its food,--they nourish, but at the same time they consume it.

The shortest and best way to make your fortune is to let people see clearly that it is in their interest to promote yours.