Pride, ill nature, and want of sense, are the three great sources of ill manners.

The example alone of a vicious prince will corrupt an age; but that of a good one will not reform it.

What they do in heaven we are ignorant of; what they do not do we are told expressly.

Neither is it safe to count upon the weakness of any man's understanding, who is thoroughly possessed of the spirit of revenge to sharpen his invention.

Wisdom is a fox who, after long hunting, will at last cost you the pains to dig out; it is a cheese, which, by how much the richer, has the thicker, the homlier, and the coarser coat; and whereof to a judicious palate, the maggots are best. It is a sack posset, wherein the deeper you go, you'll find it the sweeter. Wisdom is a hen, whose cackling we must value and consider, because it is attended with an egg. But lastly, it is a nut, which, unless you choose with judgment, may cost you a tooth, and pay you with nothing but a worm.

Perverseness is your whole defence.

An excuse is a lie guarded.