The premeditation of death is the premeditation of liberty; he who has learnt to die has forgot to serve.

When all is summed up, a man never speaks of himself without loss; his accusations of himself are always believed; his praises never.

We do not marry for ourselves, whatever we say; we marry just as much or more for our posterity, for our family. The practice and benefit of marriage concerns our race very far beyond us.

Virtue shuns ease as a companion. It demands a rough and thorny path.

Ceremony forbids us to express by words things that are lawful and natural, and we obey it; reason forbids us to do things unlawful and ill, and nobody obeys it.

The most fruitful and natural exercise for our minds is, in my opinion, conversation.

If ordinary people complain that I speak too much of myself, I complain that they do not even think of themselves.