Awkwardness is a more real disadvantage than it is generally thought to be; it often occasions ridicule, it always lessens dignity.

Whoever plays deep must necessarily lose his money or his character.

It is by vivacity and wit that man shines in company; but trite jokes and loud laughter reduce him to a buffoon.

Next to doing things that deserve to be written, nothing gets a man more credit, or gives him more pleasure than to write things that deserve to be read.

When you have found out the prevailing passion of any man, remember never to trust him where that passion is concerned.

Firmness of purpose is one of the best instruments of success.

I really know nothing more criminal, more mean, and more ridiculous than lying. It is the production either of malice, cowardice, or vanity; and generally misses of its aim in every one of these views; for lies are always detected, sooner or later.