Most people enjoy the inferiority of their best friends.

There are some occasions in which a man must tell half his secret, in order to conceal the rest: but there is seldom one in which a man should tell it all.

Virtue and learning, like gold, have their intrinsic value: but if they are not polished, they certainly lose a great deal of their luster: and even polished brass will pass upon more people than rough gold.

The world can doubtless never be well known by theory: practice is absolutely necessary; but surely it is of great use to a young man, before he sets out for that country, full of mazes, windings, and turnings, to have at least a general map of it, made by some experienced traveler.

May you live as long as you are fit to live, but no longer, or, may you rather die before you cease to be fit to live than after!

Singularity is only pardonable in old age and retirement; I may now be as singular as I please, but you may not.

Ceremonies are the outworks of manners.