There is a certain jargon, which, in French, I should call un Persiflage d'Affaires, that a foreign Minister ought to be perfectlymaster of, and may be used very advantageously at great entertainments, in mixed companies, and in all occasions where he must speak, and should say nothing. Well turned and well spoken, it seems to mean something, though in truth it means nothing. It is a kind of political badinage, which prevents or removes a thousand difficulties, to which a foreign Minister is exposed in mixed conversations.

I love every-day senses, every-day wit and entertainment; a man who is only good on holidays, is good for very little.

Politicians neither love nor hate. Interest, not sentiment, directs them.

Young men are apt to think themselves wise enough, as drunken men are apt to think themselves sober enough.

Human nature is the same everywhere; the modes only are different.

Good breeding is the result of good sense, some good nature, and a little self-denial for the sake of others.

You should not only have attention to everything, but a quickness of attention, so as to observe at once all the people in the room--their motions, their looks and their words--and yet without staring at them and seeming to be an observer.