To possess taste, one must have some soul.

We are less hurt by the contempt of fools than by the lukewarm approval of men of intelligence.

Our opinion of others is not so variable as our opinion of ourselves.

The counsels of the old, like the winter sun, shine, but give no heat.

Children are taught to fear and obey; the avarice, pride, or timidity of parents teaches children economy, arrogance, or submission. They are also encouraged to be imitators, a course to which they are already only too much inclined. No one thinks of making them original, courageous, independent.

Our errors and our controversies, in the sphere of morality, arise sometimes from looking on men as though they could be altogether bad, or altogether good.

Consciousness of our strength increases it.