Disappointment and feebleness imprint upon us a cowardly and valetudinarian virtue.

Truly it is reasonable to make a great distinction between the faults that come from our weakness and those that come from our wickedness.

To say less of yourself than is true is stupidity, not modesty. To pay yourself less than you are worth is cowardice and pusillanimity.

A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears.

I, who am king of the matter I treat, and who owe an accounting for it to no one, do not for all that believe myself in all I write. I often hazard sallies of my mind which I mistrust.

I must use these great men's virtues as a cloak for my weakness.

One open way of speaking introduces another open way of speaking, and draws out discoveries, like wine and love.