We should know mankind better if we were not so anxious to resemble one another.

Manners form the great charm of women.

How often do I lull my seething blood to rest, for you have never seen anything so unsteady, so uncertain, as this heart.

Who is sure of their own motives can in confidence advance or retreat.

Taste is only to be educated by contemplation, not of the tolerably good but of the truly excellent. I therefore show you only the best works; and when you are grounded in these, you will have a standard for the rest, which you will know how to value, without overrating them.

I reverence the individual who understands distinctly what he wishes; who unweariedly advances, who knows the means conducive to his object, and can seize and use them.

To understand one thing well is better than understanding many things by halves.