Nothing is less promising than precocity. A young thistle is more like a future tree than is a young oak.

We should always forgive. We should forgive the repentant for their sake, the unrepentant for our sake.

n every exalted joy, there mingles a sense of gratitude.

That bad manners are so prevalent in the world is the fault of good manners.

Our greatest indulgence towards a man springs from our despair of him.

Only those few people who practice it believe in goodness.

Without imagination, there is no goodness, no wisdom.