Praise, of all things, is the most powerful excitement to commendable actions, and animates us in our enterprises.

A coxcomb is the blockhead's man of merit.

A modest man never talks of himself.

Children are contemptuous, haughty, irritable, envious, sneaky, selfish, lazy, flighty, timid, liars and hypocrites, quick to laugh and cry, extreme in expressing joy and sorrow, especially about trifles, they'll do anything to avoid pain but they enjoy inflicting it: little men already.

Both as to high and low indifferently, men are prepossessed, charmed, fascinated by success; successful crimes are praised very much like virtue itself, and good fortune is not far from occupying the place of the whole cycle of virtues. It must be an atrocious act, a base and hateful deed, which success would not be able to justify.

All men's misfortunes spring from their hatred of being alone.

Misers are neither relations, nor friends, nor citizens, nor Christians, nor perhaps even human beings.