The most savage and voracious animal never kills to increase his wealth, or open a way to grandeur. It slays to satisfy his hunger, or in a natural defense of his own life, or of those whom he is prompted by instinct to preserve.

Oaths and curses are a proof of a most heroic courage, at least in appearance, which answers the same end.

Virtue is the music of the soul, the harmony of the passions.

What the eye does not see, the heart does not rue

swearing is, as I have said, learning to the ignorant, eloquence to the blockhead, vivacity to the stupid, and wit to the coxcomb.

How tedious is time, when his wings are loaded with expectation!

Virtue is the music of the soul, the harmony of the passions; it is the order, the symmetry, the interior beauty of the mind; the source of the truest pleasures, the fountain of the sublimest and most perfect happiness.