Good results are sometimes owing to a failure of judgment, because the faculty of judgment often hinders us from undertaking many things which would succeed if carried through without thinking.

The ties of virtue ought to be closer than the ties of blood, since the good man is closer to another good man by their similarity of morals than the son is to his father by their similarity of face.

We think highly of men when we do not know the extent of their capabilities, for we always suppose that more exists when we only see half.

Those who foolishly pride themselves on their nobility mistake that which makes them noble, for it is only the virtue of their ancestors that gives them noble blood.

This imperiousness which aids us in all things is merely a fitting authority which comes from superior spirit.

Virtue is not always where it seems to be. People sometimes acknowledge favors only to maintain their reputations, and to make themselves more impudently ungrateful for favors that they do not wish to acknowledge.

Wealth does not teach us to transcend the desire for wealth. The possession of many goods does not bring the repose of not desiring them.