Incivility is not a Vice of the Soul, but the effect of several Vices; of Vanity, Ignorance of Duty, Laziness, Stupidity, Distraction, Contempt of others, and Jealousy.

Great things astonish us, and small dishearten us. Custom makes both familiar.

We should keep silent about those in power; to speak well of them almost implies flattery; to speak ill of them while they are alive is dangerous, and when they are dead is cowardly.

No man is so perfect, so necessary to his friends as to give them no cause to miss him less.

One mark of a second-rate mind is to be always telling stories.

There is a false modesty, which is vanity; a false glory, which is levity; a false grandeur, which is meanness; a false virtue, which is hypocrisy, and a false wisdom, which is prudery.

Men blush less for their crimes than for their weaknesses and vanity.