We do not know either unalloyed happiness or unmitigated misfortune. Everything in this world is a tangled yarn; we taste nothing in its purity; we do not remain two moments in the same state. Our affections as well as bodies, are in a perpetual flux.

I hate books; they only teach us to talk about things we know nothing about.

Do not base your life on the judgments of others; first, because they are as likely to be mistaken as you are, and further, because you cannot know that they are telling you their true thoughts.

Money is the seed of money, and the first guinea is sometimes more difficult to acquire than the second million.

Remorse sleeps during a prosperous period but wakes up in adversity.

In all the ills that befall us, we are more concerned by the intention than the result. A tile that falls off a roof may injure us more seriously, but it will not wound us so deeply as a stone thrown deliberately by a malevolent hand. The blow may miss, but the intention always strikes home.

Peter had a genius for imitation; but he lacked true genius, which is creative and makes all from nothing.