A man of the best parts and greatest learning, if he does not know the world by his own experience and observation, will be very absurd, and consequently very unwelcome in company. He may say very good things; but they will be probably so ill-timed, misplaced, or improperly addressed, that he had much better hold his tongue.

I find, by experience, that the mind and the body are more than married, for they are most intimately united; and when one suffers, the other sympathizes.

A man who cannot command his temper, his attention, and his countenance should not think of being a man of business.

Very ugly or very beautiful women should be flattered on their understanding, and mediocre ones on their beauty.

Whenever a man seeks your advice he generally seeks your praise.

An ignorant man is insignificant and contemptible; nobody cares for his company, and he can just be said to live, and that is all.

As kings are begotten and born like other men, it is to be presumed that they are of the human species; and perhaps, had they thesame education, they might prove like other men. But, flattered from their cradles, their hearts are corrupted, and their heads are turned, so that they seem to be a species by themselves.... Flattery cannot be too strong for them; drunk with it from their infancy, like old drinkers, they require dreams.