Somehow even a popular fallacy has an aspect of truth when it suits one's own case.

Temptations come, as a general rule, when they are sought.

All perfection is melancholy.

... I have always been a disappointment to my friends. I have no gift of talk, not much to say; and though I have always been an excellent listener, that only succeeds under auspicious circumstances.

One only says it is one's duty when one has something disagreeable to do.

every generation has a conceit of itself which elevates it, in its own opinion, above that which comes after it.

The incomprehensibleness of women is an old theory, but what is that to the curious wondering observation with which wives, mothers, and sisters watch the other unreasoning animal in those moments when he has snatched the reins out of their hands, and is not to be spoken to! . It is best to let him come to, and feel his own helplessness.