There is no knowledge for which so great a price is paid as a knowledge of the world; and no one ever became an adept in it except at the expense of a hardened or a wounded heart.

Genius is the gold in the mine, talent is the miner who works and brings it out.

Grief is, of all the passions, the one that is the most ingenious and indefatigable in finding food for its own subsistence.

Friends are the thermometer by which we may judge the temperature of our fortunes.

Spring is the season of hope, and autumn is that of memory.

He who would remain honest ought to keep away want.

There are no persons capable of stooping so low as those who desire to rise in the world.