At any age we must cherish illusions, consolatory or merely pleasant; in youth, they are omnipresent; in old age we must search for them, or even invent them. But with all that, boredom is their natural and inevitable accompaniment.

Conscious virtue is the only solid foundation of all happiness; for riches, power, rank, or whatever, in the common acceptation ofthe word, is supposed to constitute happiness, will never quiet, much less cure, the inward pangs of guilt.

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

Whenever I go to an opera, I leave my sense and reason at the door with my half-guinea, and deliver myself up to my eyes and my ears.

Never write down your speeches beforehand; if you do, you may perhaps be a good declaimer, but will never be a debater.

Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

Distrust those who love you extremely upon a slight acquaintance, and without any visible reason.