The difference between weakness and wickedness is much less than people suppose; and the consequences are nearly always the same.

The vices of the rich and great are mistaken for error; and those of the poor and lowly, for crimes.

Love in France is a comedy; in England a tragedy; in Italy an opera seria; and in Germany a melodrama.

When we find that we are not liked, we assert that we are not understood; when probably the dislike we have excited proceeds from our being too fully comprehended.

The most certain mode of making people content with us is to make them content with themselves.

He who would remain honest ought to keep away want.

When we bring back with us the objects most dear, and find those we left unchanged, we are tempted to doubt the lapse of time; but one link in the chain of affection broken, and every thing seems altered.