Princes give mee sufficiently, if they take nothing from me, and doe me much good, if they doe me no hurt: it is all I require of them.

Petty vexations may at times be petty, but still they are vexations. The smallest and most inconsiderable annoyances are the most piercing. As small letters weary the eye most, so the smallest affairs disturb us most.

Glory consists of two parts: the one in setting too great a value upon ourselves, and the other in setting too little a value upon others.

I have never observed other effects of whipping than to render boys more cowardly, or more willfully obstinate.

In general I ask for books that make use of learning, not those that build it up.

It is for little souls, that truckle under the weight of affairs, not to know how clearly to disengage themselves, and not to know how to lay them aside and take them up again.

If I were of the trade, I should naturalize art as much as they "artialize" nature.