Surmise is the gossamer that malice blows on fair reputations, the corroding dew that destroys the choice blossom. Surmise is primarily the squint of suspicion, and suspicion is established before it is confirmed.

Sloth is the torpidity of the mental faculties; the sluggard is a living insensible.

An everlasting tranquility is, in my imagination, the highest possible felicity, because I know of no felicity on earth higher than that which a peaceful mind and contented heart afford.

The quarter of an hour before dinner is the worst that suitors can choose.

One ought to love society, if he wishes to enjoy solitude. It is a social nature that solitude works upon with the most various power. If one is misanthropic, and betakes himself to loneliness that he may get away from hateful things, solitude is a silent emptiness to him.

A good name will wear out; a bad one may be turned; a nickname lasts forever.

Nobility should be elective, not hereditary.