Vice foments war; it is virtue which actually fights. If there were no virtue, we would live in peace forever.

Action makes more fortune than caution.

The usual pretext of those who make others unhappy is that they do it for their own good.

The law cannot equalize mankind in spite of nature.

The common excuse for those bringing misfortune on others is that they desire their good.

Men crowd into honorable careers without other vocation than their vanity, or at best their love of fame.

Reason deceives us more often than does nature.