Flattery, if judiciously administered, is always acceptable.

A poor man defended himself when charged with stealing food to appease the cravings of hunger, saying, the cries of the stomach silenced those of the conscience.

Reason dissipates the illusions of life, but does not console us for their departure.

The future: A consolation for those who have no other.

Society punishes not the vices of its members, but their detection.

... I never will allow myself to form an ideal of any person I desire to see, for disappointment never fails to ensue.

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