Discourtesy does not spring merely from one bad quality, but from several--from foolish vanity, from ignorance of what is due to others, from indolence, from stupidity, from distraction of thought, from contempt of others, from jealousy.

A well-born man is fortunate, but so is the man about whom people no longer ask, 'is he well-born?'

There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting, public speaking.

To what excesses do men rush for the sake of religion, of whose truth they are so little persuaded, and to whose precepts they pay so little regard!

The first day one is a guest, the second a burden, and the third a pest.

Poverty may be the mother of crime, but lack of good sense is the father.

I take sanctuary in an honest mediocrity.