The pleasure of criticizing takes away from us the pleasure of being moved by some very fine things.

All the world says of a coxcomb that he is a coxcomb; but no one dares to say so to his face, and he dies without knowing it.

The finest pleasure is kindness to others.

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

How sweet, how passing sweet, is solitude!

Politeness does not always inspire goodness, equity, complaisance, and gratitude; it gives at least the appearance of these qualities, and makes man appear outwardly, as he should be within.

It is the glory and merit of some men to write well and of others not to write at all.