Men prominent in life are mostly hard to converse with. They lack small-talk, and at the same time one doesn't like to confront them with their own great themes.

To destroy is still the strongest instinct of our nature.

You cannot make a man by standing a sheep on its hind-legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position you can make a crowd of men.

It is easier to confess a defect than to claim a quality.

Only mediocrity can be trusted to be always at its best. Genius must always have lapses proportionate to its triumphs.

The dullard's envy of brilliant men is always assuaged by the suspicion that they will come to a bad end.

Nobody ever died of laughter.